In Your Footsteps
by PointlessKnife
Summary: When Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless, he realised that the world wasn't as nice as it once seemed. Everyone has their breaking point and once Izuku reached his, he ran away and didn't look back. Weeks later, he is found by Tenko Shimura and history repeats itself. Villain!Deku
1. Chapter 1

Izuku had never been one for fighting.

Even before everything else, when he'd been playing with Kacchan and it grew even a little rough, he'd start crying. At the time he'd been called a crybaby, a wimp. It'd upset him then. He'd thought it was the worst.

He was wrong. Being called a crybaby wasn't the worst.

But when he had been upset about being called a crybaby, he'd console himself with the thought that one day, he'd get a cool quirk too! Like how Kacchan could make explosions or his father could breathe fire.

He'd get a quirk, and everything would magically become better.

Except it never worked out quite like that. Izuku never developed a quirk despite waiting and waiting. Things never got better.

His mother took him to the doctor. That was meant to make everything better, right?

 _"Sorry kid, but you're quirkless."_

He was wrong. He wouldn't get a quirk and things wouldn't get better.

 _"I... I can still be a hero, right?"_

He was wrong. Being called a crybaby wasn't the worst.

 _"I'm sorry, Izuku."_

Being called quirkless was the worst.

Quirkless meant useless. Quirkless meant that nobody would like him. Quirkless meant that he was nothing and nobody.

Quirkless meant that he couldn't have friends.

Quirkless meant that he was Deku.

And... And...

"I don't want a quirkless son."

Going to the doctor hadn't made things better. It'd made everything worse.

After Izuku was diagnosed as quirkless, the arguing and the yelling started.

He was young. He didn't know how to react to the arguing. He only knew that it was loud and scary. His father's roars of rage would echo through the house, and his mother's voice would raise to a shrill scream and Izuku would hide until it was all over. More often than not, it ended with a door slamming.

He didn't know why they were arguing. Only that it was about him. So it had to be all his fault.

He didn't know if there was anyone he could talk to, ask for advice. Because Kacchan was suddenly even meaner, and Izuku would leave school each day with new bruises and a heavier heart. The teachers were acting weird, too.

They never seemed to notice that Kacchan was being _really_ mean.

So all Izuku knew was that almost everyone had turned their backs on him because he was _quirkless._ All he knew was that he was making everone miserable and angry and causing arguments because he was _quirkless._

But Izuku had never been one for fighting.

So he ran instead, and never looked back.

* * *

It turned out that, when he was absolutely forced to, Izuku _could_ fight. He just wasn't very good at it. Which completely sucked, because he had to fight to survive.

He'd run and run until he was truly lost and he didn't recognise anything anymore. He reminded himself that it didn't matter, because he couldn't go back anyway. Everyone would be happier without him. He was just a quirkless nobody, after all.

Nobody even batted an eye in the new place though. It was awful. It was messy and dirty, the streets were overflowing with litter that no one had bothered to pick up. Torn posters littered the cracked walls like scars, and broken windows leered at the street from slumping houses.

There was nobody to care that he was quirkless here, so that was an improvement.

But he realised very quickly that he had no idea how to fend for himself. He'd been forced to steal to survive, and that was something that heroes wouldn't do, right?

But it didn't matter, because he was quirkless and could never be a hero.

Still, he'd managed to stumble into fights with other people like him. They had to steal to survive, too, and they had to find the warmest places to sleep at night, the best places to take shelter. So eventually, Izuku was dragged into conflict, and he was forced to fight.

 _"What are you going to do, you little shit?"_

A more recent fight had been over the best place to take shelter from the rain. He'd lost and had stumbled into the downpour, and let the rain wash away his tears. Crying was a waste, it wouldn't solve anything.

He'd still rather be a crybaby than quirkless, though. He'd still rather be a crybaby than Deku.

The people he'd fought had quirks to use as weapons. He had nothing. He could tell after a while where their quirks were weak, but he couldn't fight back against that many. The best he could do was escape... But running away had always been his thing, hadn't it? He was injured and tired and hungry and cold.

He just wanted it all to be over, now. He'd almost take being quirkless and hated to be warm and safe and know when he'd eat next. But then he'd remember Kacchan's smirk and the yelling and the crying, and he'd resign himself to his fate.

So he sat at a corner of the street, partly covered by a broken metal sign, and watched people walk by, briskly and huddled under brightly coloured umbrellas.

A few looked at him. They looked away just as quickly.

Over the thunder of the rain, Izuku could catch a few of the voices.

"Poor boy."

"Don't worry about him."

"I'm sure a hero will do something."

Izuku nearly laughed at that last one. Some people were idiots. He was certain that heroes didn't help people like him.

He was quirkless and useless and worthless. Nobody could be bothered with him.

* * *

Tenko Shimura was _not_ in a good mood. He'd been sent out to buy groceries for Kurogiri in the worst weather possible. The wind was frigid and managed to direct the icy rain directly into his face, no matter how he held the stupid umbrella.

At least the groceries were still dry, being hugged tightly to his chest. There was no way that he was going to be forced to go out again to buy more.

He was in such a bad mood that he almost stomped straight past the child. Almost.

But he couldn't really ignore the kid. The kid was barely out of the rain, hunched underneath a battered metal sign, with his knees hugged to his chest in an effort to make himself as small as possible. His matted hair was filthy and his clothes were baggy and torn and stained, revealing just how thin the kid was.

His eyes were the worst, though. They were blank and glassy, like the kid had given up hope a long time ago.

Yeah, Tenko could hardly ignore the kid. Not when he'd been in the exact same position just a little more than a year before. He could still hear the whispers, even so many months later. They stayed with him, would stay with him, and haunted him.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

The heroes never came. Sensei came, and Sensei had saved him and that was far more than the heroes had ever done.

So Tenko could have just shrugged, written himself off as lucky to be saved by Sensei. He could have just walked straight past the kid, and back to the bar where he had Kurogiri and Sensei waiting for him.

But... But Tenko wasn't heartless. He lived with villains, he practically _was_ a villain, but that didn't mean he was evil.

He wouldn't just walk by. He'd leave that to the heroes.

So instead, he stopped, and walked over to the kid, bending down so he looked as non-threatening as possible, and offered his hand. "Shit, kid. You're in bad shape. Want to come with me, and we can see about getting you fixed up?"

The kid blinked owlishly, like he thought Tenko was some kind of dream. Tenko had been there before. He knew how it felt.

"Why? Why would you help me?" The kid's voice was hoarse and trembling and he looked about ten seconds away from crying.

Tenko shrugged. "I was in a similar position myself a while back. Still would be, if someone hadn't saved me. So I felt like helping you... Besides, what have you got to lose?"

For a moment, nothing happened. Tenko remained crouched under an umbrella that shuddered with the force of the rain, and remembered being exactly like the kid: cold and lonely and _scared._

Izuku remained hunched out of sight, unwanted, unloved and terrified. He really did have nothing to lose. So he managed a weak, hesitant smile and took Tenko's hand.

And the world changed.


	2. Chapter 2

They must have looked weird.

Tenko was holding an umbrella and a bag of groceries with one hand, and his other hand was being clutched by a small child with torn clothes and multiple wounds. He was stooped awkwardly in his attempt to shelter them both with the umbrella, even though there wasn't much of a point. They were both completely soaked anyway.

"Careful, kid. If you grab all of my fingers, you'll disintegrate." Tenko warned as the child clutched his hand tighter reflexively when he stumbled. "It's my quirk."

The kid looked surprised, then excited, then sad. "That's cool." He said softly. "It must be very useful."

Tenko shrugged. "I guess."

"I'm quirkless." The boy's voice was quiet, and he spoke in a rush, like he was ashamed of the fact, and he didn't dare look at Tenko when he spoke.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Tenko didn't even pause. "So what if you're quirkless? That doesn't change anything."

He assumed that there must have been a story behind the kid's apparent shame at his condition. Sensei hadn't asked about Tenko's quirk, when he had saved him. Sensei hadn't asked much about anything, aside from whether or not Tenko wanted to, or was ready to talk about it. So Tenko didn't ask the kid anything that would upset him, and that included his lack of a quirk.

Instead, he decided to change the subject. That seemed much safer.

"I'm Tenko Shimura." The teen said, still struggling to adjust the umbrella. "What's your name?"

The boy looked at him, then at the worn pavement. "I'm Izuku... Just Izuku."

"Well, Izuku, we're nearly there." Tenko said with a smile. He wasn't sure what else to say, really. He hadn't been good with talking to people, even before... Before everything.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

So he just said what he had dreamed of hearing, would have _killed_ to hear, back then.

"So you don't need to worry, Izuku. We'll get this all sorted out."

The smile he was rewarded with told him that he had indeed said the right thing. Then a particually nasty gust of icy wind made the umbrella trembled and they were both treated to a shock of rain to the face.

Well, Kurogiri's groceries hadn't exactly been dry in the first place, anyway.

* * *

Kurogiri didn't exactly dislike Tenko Shimura. He was just wary of the boy. He knew it was wrong. He knew it was unfair. He knew that All for One had plans for Tenko, big plans.

He already knew, on some level, that Tenko would be the one to kill All Might, that if _anyone_ could kill All Might, it would be Tenko.

He could see Tenko in the future: violent and insane and calculating. He could see Tenko as he was currently: nervous and awkward and bad tempered.

He could see how Tenko would fall. Nobody had taught him how to care for others, nobody had taught him how a human should act. Nobody had taught him how to love.

Tenko had seen the worst parts of humanity. He'd seen the worst in his parents, he'd seen the worst in people as they walked past him, and so he'd only see the worst in himself.

He'd see the worst in everything, and he'd hate it all. He'd hate it and hate it until he couldn't stand it and the only option left was to remove it.

Kurogiri would know. He'd been there himself, even if it was so long ago.

That was how he'd become a villain.

But Kurogiri couldn't bring himself to hate the child with the messy hair and the curious red eyes that would watch him as he worked. He couldn't hate the child that would still sometimes wake up screaming and crying in the middle of the night. He just couldn't.

Still, he could so clearly see the villain within the child, and feared getting too close, in case he made anything worse. If Tenko saw only the worst in everything, then being in the same place as Kurogiri and All for one, villains and murderers and liars, then it'd be like living in a house full of mirrors.

Tenko was still a child, really. Still young and still uncertain and still _scared_.

Kurogiri was hardly a good person. He was a villain, a murderer, a _freak_. He couldn't care for a child. He couldn't show the love Tenko needed to see, he'd been broken too many times for that, far, far too many times.

So he could only watch. Watch how the child was becoming more and more like he'd feared each day.

Until one unsuspecting afternoon, Tenko shoved his way into the bar, completely soaked, shaking out an equally drenched umbrella with a child clinging to his leg.

As Tenko turned to close the door, his expression softened and he smiled at the trembling boy.

Promptly, every image of a future, monsterous Tenko that Kurogiri had ever imagined shattered. Tenko had never, in all his time with Kurogiri and All for One, demonstrated any sympathy for anyone else. Never.

The boy that Tenko had brought with him had clearly been surviving by himself for quite some time. His torn, dirty clothes were weighed down with water and revealed just how thin he was. His filthy hair was plastered to his face, and his guant face and his haunted eyes reminded him all too much of Tenko, when All for One had first taken him in.

"Well, Tenko." Kurogiri coughed, making the boy flinch and Tenko whirl around from fumbling with the lock. "Aren't you going to introduce your friend?"

"Oh yeah. This is Izuku. Hey, Izuku, this is Kurogiri. He may look scary, but he's really a big softy." Tenko said with uncharacteristic cheer.

In response, Izuku peered timidly at Kurogiri from behind Tenko's leg, but didn't move.

"Anyway, do you think we can help him out?" Tenko asked lightly, but his face told a different story. Tenko's red eyes held no room for argument, just the stubborn certainty that normally meant an impending tantrum, if he didn't get his way.

"Of course." Kurogiri agreed easily. This was interesting. Tenko would be willing to go so far for a stranger? This was new. "How about you get Izuku cleaned up, then we'll see about those wounds?"

Odd. Kurogiri had never seen Tenko look so _relieved_ before.

As soon as the two were gone, Kurogiri turned to the screen. "Well, what do you think?" Kurogiri asked the static.

For a moment, the only noise was the quiet, serene hum of static from the screen. Then a distorted voice chuckled.

"I can't say I'm not surprised." The voice of the ancient villain admitted. "I didn't think Tenko had it in him. But I suppose finding someone so much like himself is good for him, in a way... I must say, I knew he admired me, but I'd more hoped that he'd attempt to copy my more villainous traits, rather than helping random children. Still, it will be good for him."

"Yes." Kurogiri thought of the vision he'd had of Tenko, merciless and cruel and insane, and then of the fleeting expression of warmth he'd seen on the teen's face. "I think it is. I assume that little Izuku will be staying with us for a while, if he seems to care so much?"

There was a thoughtful burst of static.

"I suppose you're right."

And Kurogiri was glad. Because he was a villain, but that didn't mean he was souless, that didn't mean he was heartless, that didn't mean he wasn't human.

* * *

Izuku's hair had turned out to be green, underneath all the dirt, a deep mossy green that reminded Tenko a little of the colour of grass in sunlight.

The small child looked very small and very fragile with his wounds covered in bright, clean bandages and he was swamped in one of Tenko's old hoodies. He was perched on one of the bar stools, staring owlishly as Kurogiri bustled around. The bartender had prepared something light for Izuku, as to not upset his stomach after he'd been living on the streets for so long, and whatever it was it smelt good. Kurogiri had prepared a warm drink for Tenko, which was nice after being subjected to the freezing rain.

Tenko realised that it had probably been a long, long time since Izuku had had a hot meal, and frowned. He could remember being like that, and he'd been older than Izuku was, too. He remembered what it was like to be so hungry that he couldn't sleep and to wonder when his next meal would be.

He was proven right as Izuku virtually inhaled his food.

"See? Kurogiri's food is the best." Tenko said smugly, and Izuku managed a timid smile.

"Y-yeah." Izuku's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but Tenko heard it nonetheless.

"You want more, Izuku?" Tenko asked, because he could still remember the horrible, empty feeling that came with living as Izuku had.

The boy was shaking his head, even as his eyes began to shine with tears.

"Is something wrong?" Tenko asked quickly, wondering where he'd gone wrong. He'd been trying to be like Sensei, because Sensei had somehow made everything better. Sensei hadn't made Tenko cry at all.

"I-I don't g-get it!" The boy sobbed, looking as terrified and as miserable as when Tenko had first found him. "I-I'm q-quirkless, s-so why are y-you h-h-helping me? I'm w-worthless, r-right? S-so why are y-you w-wasting your time?"

"Kid-"

"A-and I r-ruin everything! Even K-Kacchan s-said that e-everyone was better off w-without me. A-and h-he was right. I-I b-bet that m-mum and d-dad aren't fighting a-anymore."

Tenko frowned. So Izuku had been made into an outcast because he was quirkless, just like how Tenko had been made an into an outcast because he had an 'evil' quirk. The world just wasn't fair. Not to him. Not to anyone.

"Didn't I already say that it didn't matter that you were quirkless?" Tenko snapped, making Izuku _freeze_.

For a moment, Izuku looked terrified, enough that Tenko began to regret raising his voice. Then the kid's expression changed from shock and fear to awe.

Then the boy was clinging to him and sobbing.

Kurogiri and All for One watched in silence as Tenko awkwardly sat with Izuku until the small child had cried himself to sleep.

There was another, long moment of quiet, then Kurogiri sighed. "I'll take him to one of the spare rooms."

After that, it was just Tenko and the screen.

"Well? I know you're there, Sensei." Tenko mumbled, looking at the screen almost nervously.

"I'm curious, Tenko. Why would you save him?" Sensei's voice was soft, but not angry. Tenko relaxed slightly. He didn't regret helping Izuku, but he didn't really want to make Sensei mad. Not when Sensei had saved him, not when Sensei had been his hero, not when Sensei _cared_.

"He was like me. You know, on the streets." Tenko muttered, glaring at the mug in front of him. "And nobody was helping him. They were spewing the same shit, too. 'The heroes will help him', I heard them. What a joke. Like the heroes help anyone when it doesn't benefit them."

Sensei made a small noise of agreement, but didn't make any comment, so Tenko took it as a sign to continue.

"So I figured I could help him like you helped me... 'Cause I'd still be like that if you hadn't helped me out. I mean, it's not like the heroes would have helped him."

Sensei sighed over the static. "That's true. Heroes rarely help those truly in need."

"I hate them." Tenko growled. "They're praised and famous and it all seems so glamourous. But they're all fake."

"What do you intend to do about it?"

Tenko frowned at that. He thought about the praise the heroes recieved. He thought about how people ended up like him and Izuku.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

He remembered what it was like to be cold and hungry and hurting. He remembered what it was like knowing that no one cared. He remembered haunted green eyes on a tear-stained face.

"I want to destroy them." Tenko decided. The mug he'd been glaring at crumpled in his grip, and was soon nothing more than a fine powder in his hands.

"Excellent choice, Tenko." Sensei sounded pleased, and Tenko could almost imagine that the man was smiling.

Tenko beamed at that. It was almost like Sensei was proud of him. It'd been a long, long time since he'd had anyone to be proud of him.

At moments like this, though, he could pretend that everything was almost like it was before. When he had been warm and happy and safe, and there was always someone watching out for him.

Almost.

Because this wouldn't end up like last time. Last time, Tenko was safe and happy and had people be proud of him, it all went to hell and he was left hurting and betrayed and lonely. And he refused to let it end like that again, no matter what he had to do to stop it.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi! Just a quick apology for the later than usual update. I've been both sick and busy recently, which is a great combination, so I haven't had much time for writing. That being said, the final chapter of 'Of Schadenfreude and Satire' will be finished soon.**

 **As usual, I own nothing, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

Izuku was quiet.

For the first few days after Tenko saved him, he was more like a ghost than a person. He hardly spoke, only when someone asked him something, would he whisper a response.

He clung to Tenko's side when he could, too. Tenko, for most of the part, didn't mind. Tenko remembered how he'd stuck near Sensei, because Sensei was the first person who'd been nice to Tenko in a long, long time, because Tenko was still convinced that it was all some wonderful dream.

So he couldn't really bring himself to be annoyed at Izuku for doing the exact same thing. Sensei and Kurogiri had become his entire world, and he wondered if Izuku felt like he had, at the start of it all. Overwhelmed and shocked and so, so grateful.

Probably.

Tenko had never really found anyone who had been through anything similar to his own experiences. He'd never really had anyone he'd _understood_ before, not really.

Izuku wasn't another passerby who just didn't care. Izuku wasn't Kurogiri, who was nice and careful and distant, or like Sensei who had vanished and only spoke through a screen. Izuku was like him, hated and scared and not really sure why any of it had to happen.

Tenko knew the pain of being pushed away. He wasn't about to do that to Izuku, because he knew how much it hurt, and he may have hated heroes, he may have wanted all the heroes to be knocked of their shining pedestals, but he wasn't evil or heartless.

Besides, he only hated heroes. And Izuku wasn't a hero. Izuku was like him.

Eventually, though, Izuku started to open up, and talk more.

More specifically, he asked questions.

The first question was enough to surprise everyone. The child had talked without thinking when he was sitting with Tenko in the bar area.

"Is that not a normal TV?" He'd asked quietly, staring at the screen filled with static. "Does it have some special purpose?"

He seemed to shrink in on himself when he realised that both Tenko and Kurogiri were staring at him.

Sensei hadn't chosen to reveal himself to Izuku, and had instead decided to watch and wait out of curiousity, apparently.

"Why would you think it has some sort of purpose?" Kurogiri asked carefully.

"You _hate_ waste." Izuku's voice was hardly more than a whisper, but in the silence it could be heard clearly. "S-so you wouldn't have a screen on for n-no reason."

Even as he spoke, Izuku shrunk in on himself more, looking scared, like he expected to be laughed at at any moment.

There was another moment of silence, and Tenko wondered who would be the one to break the silence. Then...

"Yes, this screen does have a specific purpose. It allows me to communicate, even from a long distance." Sensei's voice shattered the silence into a thousand tiny fragments.

Izuku made a muffled squeaking noise as he nearly fell off the stool he was perched on. Only Tenko grabbing hold of him managed to save him from falling.

"W-who?" The child looked terrified.

"That's Sensei." Tenko explained quietly. "He's really nice, he just can't stay here all the time, so he watches through the screen to make sure we're okay."

At that, Izuku relaxed, and Tenko wondered when the timid boy had begun to trust him so much.

And then the mumbling started. "If he's been watching all this time, then he must care... But then the reason he can't be at the bar, despite all the room, then something has to be really serious... Is it a medical condition? A quirk?"

At that, both Tenko and Kurogiri stared at Izuku in shock: that was the most he'd spoken since he'd arrived.

Izuku seemed to realise this too, because he flinched and stared at the floor. "S-sorry."

Kurogiri chuckled. "It's fine, Izuku. And you were spot on- Sensei cannot be here because he has a rather... severe injury."

Izuku perked up that, and smiled hesitantly. Tenko thought that he saw just a shred of light return to Izuku's eyes after that, and beamed.

He was glad Izuku seemed to be getting better. It reminded him too much of himself when he had just been found, when he had been bitter and hurting and broken. And Izuku had already wormed his way into Tenko's heart like Kurogiri and Sensei had, so thinking of Izuku being uncertain and scared and lonely hurt him, too.

And Kurogiri cared about Izuku, too. Tenko could tell, because Kurogiri's eyes would always crinckle in the way that meant he was smiling on the rare occasions when Izuku talked... Kurogiri was smiling more and more these days.

But in the end, it didn't matter so much, because that afternoon marked the beginning of several things.

It was when All for One decided that Izuku Midoriya was interesting after all.

And it was when Izuku started trusting the people who'd taken him in, and it was when he started seeing them as family.

* * *

Inko Midoriya was falling apart.

Or rather, she was falling apart at the same rate as her entire world, and she was left stamding in all the shattered pieces, wondering when it all started going wroing.

 _"M-mum? I can still be a h-hero, right?"_

Even with weeks and weeks of waiting and wishing to think, she still couldn't figure out when it had all started.

She knew how it ended.

It ended with the arguments and the tears and the anger. And then the regret.

It ended with Hisashi yelling and Inko screaming and Izuku crying. It ended with Izuku hiding as his parents yelled and everything fell apart.

And Inko had been too broken herself to pick up the pieces.

Hisashi had been furious. With her. With Izuku. And she'd been furious, too. She'd hated Hisashi for how he'd treated Izuku. She'd hated Hisashi because he was always so distant, even before, and she _knew_ that Izuku hated it. She knew that he'd thought it was his fault too, but she hadn't found a way to explain it all without hurting him.

And now she wished she had.

She remembered the morning she'd found Izuku missing with perfect, awful clarity. She'd been groggy, still rubbing her eyes when she went to wake him up for school.

The curtains were open. Sunlight streamed into the empty room. The bed was still neatly made, everything was tidied away. Nothing was out of place.

Almost in a daze, she'd checked all of the house, calling Izuku's name until her voice was hoarse. Hisashi came storming over to see what the problem was.

Everything else passed in a blur. One thing that stood out to her, though, was Hisashi's pale, horrified face, the way the understanding had dawned on his face and his eyes had widened almost comically. But everything else was hazy and she couldn't bring herself to care.

Izuku was gone. Izuku had run away, and it was all her fault.

She didn't let herself fall apart between all the looks of pity and sympathy and sometimes disgust. She didn't let herself fall apart when Mitsuki came rushing over to see how she was coping. She didn't let herself fall apart, because she could hope that Izuku would be found.

One week turned into two. Two weeks turned into three. The little flame of hope got smaller and smaller, but it didn't completely die. Not yet. So she had to stay strong.

Then the police arrived. They'd taken notes on the inital case, then sent a tracking specialist after Izuku.

Inko remembered the young woman with the tracking quirk. She'd smiled at Inko gravely, her brown eyes determined. "I'll do my best, Mrs Midoriya."

The woman with the tracking quirk had reappeared halfway through the fourth week.

Inko's heart sunk just from looking at her face. There were dark rings like bruises under her eyes, and she wasn't smiling. Her eyes were dull, and she hung her head, in either shame or regret.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs Midoriya... The rainfall made tracking difficult. This was all I could find. I'm sorry."

And then the woman had handed over a small object.

Inko stopped being strong after that.

She clutched the small All Might action figure to her chest. One arm had been torn off, and it was covered in grime. The paint had chipped in places, but the tiny writing announcing it as belonging to Izuku that Inko herself had written so long ago was still in place.

The smile was still there, too. She could see it, even through the filth on the toy. Blinding and bright and plastic.

 _"He's the greatest, mum!"_

Inko stopped being strong after that. But she didn't quite give up on hope.


	4. Chapter 4

Izuku had really opened up a lot to them, after that first question. It was like he'd realised then that it was okay to talk and be curious and ask questions.

He always got an answer, whenever he asked something, and Tenko would always relax a little when Izuku's face lit up with pure, childish joy.

It reminded him a little bit of when he'd first arrived, too. He'd been so, so happy. Even though Kurogiri became distant later.

The bar had smelt of alcohol and cooking. It had reminded him of home, of his father. It had reminded him of how his father had staggered in drunk and violent, and how Tenko had been scared. It had reminded him of how Tenko had been scared and desperate, and _pushed_. It had reminded him of how the smell of alcohol had been overpowered by the stench of blood, and how he'd run away before his father could wake up.

But it had also reminded him of how things had got better.

It reminded him of how Sensei had been nice, and how Kurogiri had been kind, even if he seemed a bit detached from it all.

And seeing Izuku's blinding smile had reminded him of that. How he'd been cared for, and how he couldn't really ever repay them, Kurogiri and Sensei.

But he could make them proud. He could make the world better for them. Them and little Izuku, with the haunted eyes and the bright smile.

Izuku's smile wasn't the only bright thing, about him, though. He was learning how to read, or rather, they were all teaching him.

Tenko wasn't entirely sure _why_ Izuku was so insistant on learning how to read. But Tenko suspected that it had something to do with the kid's nightmares about 'Kacchan'. When Tenko had asked, Izuku had mumbled about proving that he wasn't Deku.

And that was more than enough for the boy to unwittingly enlist the help of Tenko, Kurogiri and Sensei.

Kurogiri would sit there, and help the boy through a chapter of a slim book, yellow eyes warm as Izuku stuttered through a page. The bartender was less distant now, more like a person and less like a butler. Tenko had found himself talking to Kurogiri more and more recently, after Izuku had arrived.

Then Tenko would sit with Izuku, and they would take it in turns, reading a line at a time. Sometimes, Tenko would help with the more difficult words, giving hints and encouraging nods. Sometimes, Izuku figured it out by himself.

And once, Tenko had walked in to see Izuku sitting in front of the screen, and Sensei was correcting Izuku's pronounciation.

Izuku seemed to make them all seem closer, Tenko realised. It was after Izuku had managed to work his way though an entire chapter alone, with no mistakes, and they had all listened. Tenko and Kurogiri were clapping and Sensei was making a small humming noise that meant he was happy.

That was then Tenko realised that Izuku had brought them all together, he'd made Kurogiri less distant somehow and Sensei approved, and Izuku had made it seem almost like they were all one really weird family. A really weird family of misfits and villains and outcasts, but a family all the same.

And Tenko, who'd been all alone like Izuku had, couldn't be happier.

* * *

Bakugo had never meant for things to turn out the way they did.

He'd known that he was being mean, he'd known that he was being unfair, he'd known he was hurting the boy who had been his best friend.

But he hadn't really _realised_ that he was in the wrong. How could he have fought that he was in the wrong, when everyone looked at him with awe and admiration.

Even Deku.

No one had stopped him, when he'd pushed Deku around. No one had told him off. No one had helped Deku, either.

But Bakugo hadn't cared. Deku was weak. Deku was useless. Deku was a crybaby and would not go away. He had kept tagging along and Bakugo had been sick of it.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand why Deku had stayed.

 _"You're the least amazing."_

And Deku had kept smiling.

 _"Your name can be read as Deku. It means useless."_

And then Deku's smile had faltered, and he'd smiled less.

Bakugo hadn't cared. Deku was useless, weak, a crybaby. He didn't want Deku hanging around with him anymore.

Bakugo was going to be a hero. Everyone thought so. He _knew_ so.

He hadn't needed Deku anymore. So he'd pushed Deku away. He didn't want to be Deku's friend, he didn't want to be smiled at, and he certainly didn't want to see admiration in those annoyingly bright green eyes.

It hadn't really registered when the light in those green eyes had dimmed, little by little. He was more caught up on the fact that Deku wouldn't leave him alone. That Deku thought they were still friends.

Deku still smiled, but it was more of an afterthought. It was vacant, and it was so fake, so plastic. Bakugo had been visciously pleased. Maybe it had meant that Deku would learn his lesson and stop trying to be his friend.

Bakugo hadn't been focused on much more than how he'd wanted Deku to leave him alone.

But he hadn't wanted Deku to _leave_.

The first day Deku hadn't turned up to school, Bakugo hadn't worried at all. Deku was weak, he'd probably injured himself or caught a cold.

Bakugo had been happy, then. Deku was gone, and that had been what he'd wanted all along, right?

The entire first two days passed like that. Deku was gone, he'd finally got the message.

By the third day, the novelty had worn off. There was a new, unfamiliar feeling settling cold and heavy in his stomach. He wasn't quite sure what it was. It reminded him of that one memory he'd tried time and time to bury. When he'd slipped off that bridge, and for a moment, when he'd realised that there was nothing beneath him but gaping, empty air, he'd been cold.

That memory and that feeling had ended with Deku's eyes, wide and gentle and flooded with concern.

This memory didn't end with Deku's eyes, didn't end with Deku trying to help, didn't end with Deku trying to make everything better.

Then a police officer had come to talk to the teachers.

And _then_ the teachers had cared about Deku. Then they'd gone quiet. _Then_ saying mean things and pushing Deku around had been wrong.

And he'd been confused. If he'd been so mean and wrong and cruel, then why hadn't they told him off? Why hadn't they helped Deku? Why... Why hadn't anyone stopped him?

He'd always remember the look in his mother's eyes when she found out. Shock and disappointment and regret.

Then he'd known he was wrong. He'd pushed and pushed, with his quirk, with cruel words, with everything he had.

 _"You're so useless. Everyone would be better off if you weren't around!"_

He'd been cruel and pushed Deku too far. _Then_ he'd learnt that words could hurt more than burns and scraped knees. Just like Deku had.

And _then,_ he'd realised that Deku wasn't coming back.

That cold, painful feeling had been overpowering, and he'd simmered and stewed until he exploded.

It all exploded into a screaming match with his mother. They'd both ended up crying at the end. That said a lot about the argument, considering that neither of them were criers.

"I'm sorry." He'd said, blinking back tears, because he _hated_ crying. It wasn't really his mother that he needed to apologise to.

She ruffled his hair, but it didn't disguise the fact her hands were shaking.

"It was mean and wrong, and you'll have to take responsibility. It wasn't all your fault, you know. " And her voice was hoarse and thick with tears but it was the gentlest she'd ever sounded. "Not all of it, there are plenty of other people in the wrong, too."

She didn't deny that he was wrong. She'd always been blunt and maybe a little bit harsh, but he'd never thought that she'd lie.

"But-" He starts, and a small part of him hates how small and vulnerable he sounds. But a bigger part of him is guilty and scared and so, so sorry.

"I never stopped you, or told you that it was wrong." His mother tells him firmly, still in that gentle voice. "We never really taught you to be compassionate, we never really discouraged you from anything, and I'm sorry. The teachers never stopped you. They didn't tell me or Inko..." And then she sighed. "I think things weren't very nice for Izuku at home."

And that makes Bakugo feel worse. He's not used to feeling bad or upset or sorry, but he knew even then that he'd be sorry for a long, long time.

"But... On top of all that stuff, I pushed him around, teased him and called him useless b-because he was quirkless. I-I... I told him to leave, a-and he did."

He'd started crying halfway through his explanation. Because he knew it was cruel and it feels wrong to even say it now. Because with the last bit, he was scared. He was afraid, for a moment, that his mother would look at him with the cold, angry eyes that everyone else was, maybe she'd hit him, and he'd deserve it.

Instead, her eyes filled with tears again, and she hugged him tightly. Normally, he'd protest and wriggle away.

Then his father walked in, having come back from shopping and wordlessly dropped the bags and joined the hug.

Everything was wrong. He was wrong. His mother was crying. He was crying and sorry. And Deku wasn't coming back.

And as he was hugged, sorry and hurting, he knew that he was still warm and safe and loved. Then he imagined Deku running away, and leaving all of this behind.

 _Then_ he realised that Deku wasn't weak. Deku was brave. Maybe Deku had always been brave.

It was then that Bakugo learned that it was okay to cry, because Deku had cried, and Deku had been brave. And so Bakugo would cry, and then he'd be brave and keep moving forwards.

He couldn't apologise to Deku. It was too late. Deku was gone.

But Bakugo could become a hero, one that made sure that no one ever had to end up like Deku.

 _Then,_ Bakugo would find Izuku and they would cry together.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi! Just a quick apology for the longer than usual wait- sorry, the editing took a while.**

 **A quick warning: there are a few mentions of self-harm, though it's mostly taken from cannon. And as usual, I own nothing and I hope you enjoy the chapter :D**

* * *

Life settled into a routine shortly after Izuku had learned to read.

Kurogiri would warp Izuku away to private tutors for lessons. Tenko knew what the lessons would be like- he'd been taught the same way. The tutors were always cold, always distant, but they always would push him the furthest he could go.

Tenko had learnt the same way, because knowledge was power. Tenko had learnt the same way, because the tutors would never ask questions, would never think of turning any of them in, so long as they were paid.

Tenko had learnt the same way, and somewhere, there were real qualifications on a fake identity. With knowledge, he could slip convincingly enough into any of the roles already carefully prepared, just in case. Tenko had learnt the same way, so he could escape if he needed to. But Tenko had learnt the same way so he'd never need to escape.

And so Izuku would learn under tutors that didn't care and didn't ask questions, because it would keep him safe. He wouldn't be turned in. He wouldn't be asked questions. And it didn't matter that the tutors didn't care, because Kurogiri and Sensei and Tenko cared.

It was unspoken, the way Izuku had settled into their lives, the way he'd now belong. The fact he was being taught meant that he would be there in the future. The fact he was being taught meant that he might need to keep himself safe, later.

Meanwhile, Tenko was earning a name for himself as a villain. It was a new name, a different name. He couldn't risk being identified, Sensei said.

So he had another name.

Tomura Shigaraki.

And that was the name that people were beginning to recognise. That was the name people were associating with the League of Villains. That was the name people would one day associate with the end of heroes.

Sensei was really the one doing most of the work. He just told Tenko where to go and who to talk to.

Sensei had all the contacts, he knew who Tenko would need on his side to make his dream a reality.

So Tenko had trusted Sensei. They were small errands, really. Sometimes they ended well, and when Tenko reported to Sensei, the man would sound smug. He was proud of Tenko, and that was all Tenko had ever really wanted.

But sometimes, the meeting didn't end well. Sometimes, civil conversations would wither and crumble into yelling, and then the yelling would descend into violence. Sometimes, Tenko would walk away covered in blood. Sometimes Tenko would limp back to Kurogiri and Sensei, bleeding and injured, but victorious.

Izuku never found out about the missions that didn't go so well. He was always asleep when Tenko would stagger into the bar, injured and irritable.

But in the days after the missions, Tenko would always have dark rings under his eyes, his hands would shake and he would snap if anyone asked him anything. In the days after the missions, Tenko was vulnerable and often lost in thought.

One time was all it took, though. The mission in question had been particually bad. It had been a trap from the start, and Tenko had no choice but to kill one of his attackers to escape.

 _"Hah, they just sent a kid? Oh well, this just makes everything easier."_

It wasn't the first time he'd killed someone. When he'd been on the streets, he'd done what he had to survive, and he hadn't always had the best control over his quirk. But he still hated the feeling of something living, pulsing, _breathing_ crumbling to nothing under his hands.

He hadn't said anything to Sensei or Kurogiri, only that the mission had failed, and then he'd refused to talk after that. It appeared that they'd both decided to give him space, let him open up when he was ready. Even Izuku had been quieter that day, eyeing Tenko timidly and with concern written all over his face.

So he'd sat there in the bar sullenly, staring at nothing and trying not to see the dying light in the man's eyes.

A sudden noise startled him out of his thoughts, and he saw Izuku stumble, having tripped over his own feet. On instinct, completely thoughtless, Tenko grabbed Izuku's arm to pull him up.

All five fingers met Izuku's arm, and his skin began to crumble. Tenko immeditately recoiled in horror, staring as Izuku's eyes filled with tears.

Then he turned and ran, because he was sickened with himself, because he'd messed up, because he really, really didn't want to see Izuku cry and know he was the cause of it.

Because there was already an apology to a dead man in his throat and he couldn't trust himself to speak, even to the boy he saw as a little brother.

* * *

Back when Tenko had been surviving on the streets, he'd killed someone. Back when Tenko had been surviving on the streets, he'd run in to trouble nearly every single day. One of those times, he'd been sorely outnumbered.

It had been a small group. They all had weak quirks, but they'd banded together and were almost unstoppable- or it seemed like it to Tenko.

He'd tried to fight- he always had- and he'd ended up choking, desparately gasping for breath as hands curled around his throat and darkness crawled accross his vision. He remembered, even years later, the way he'd clawed frantically at the hands, and the way his lungs began to burn. He remembered feeling lost, scared and _helpless_.

And he'd always remember the way the way the pressure coiled around his throat like a snake had crumbled away, like a flower being pulled apart, petal by petal.

He had been so, so scared, so, so _helpless._

He remembered clawing at his neck afterwards, as he sobbed and _breathed._ He was alive, he had survived... But the one who'd tried to kill him hadn't.

They had hit the floor limply, and their friends had scattered after that. They were unmoving, cold and lifeless. Blood blossomed from their still form. Tenko flinched away and ran and ran until his legs gave up somewhere very far away.

He'd sat there for a while, slouched in the shadows, crying, shaking and breathing. And he'd scratched at his neck until he was really sure that there weren't hands there anymore, until he was sure he really was actually safe.

Until some of the blood on his hands was actually his own.

He hid in the shadows of the more crowded streets after that. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to see the lifeless form of the person he'd... he'd killed.

Then people started seeing him. He knew they saw him. He saw the _disgust_ in their eyes. He saw the _pity_ too.

It had been a long, long time since someone pitied him.

But he also heard the whispers as they passed him.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

But... But if that were true, then where were the heroes? Where? His fingers dug into his neck.

The heroes hadn't saved him when he was dying. They hadn't. He'd had to save himself. And-

And where were the heroes to save the one he'd killed. He hadn't wanted to- he really didn't mean to!

He'd just wanted to breathe again, and they'd paid the price.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

That was a lie. The heroes weren't coming.

But then Sensei came. Sensei saved him. Sensei was his hero.

Everything had become better after that.

He'd never had fight for food or shelter. He'd never had to sleep in the rain.

 _"Hah, they just sent a kid? Oh well, this just makes everything easier."_

And before that one night, he'd never had to kill either.

He sat in his room, and saw blank, glassy eyes and blood blossoming like flowers. He had been _helpless_ again. _Helpless_ and scared and stained.

He wasn't aware that he was clawing at his neck until Izuku peered around the door, eyes round and timid.

There was a pause, and Tenko could hear his heartbeat echoing in his ears.

Then, with a cry, Izuku rushed forwards and pulled Tenko's hands away from his neck.

"What are you _doing_?" Izuku's eyes were full of tears, full of fear and shock. But no hatred, no pity. Izuku's eyes were full of kindness and _life_. "Are you okay?"

"I..." Tenko's voice came out raspy and hoarse.

 _I'm fine._

 _I'm sorry._

 _I didn't mean to._

 _I just wanted..._

 _I just wanted things to go well._

"It happens." He said instead, and the words were hollow, empty. A lie filled with half a truth.

Izuku stared, aghast for a moment. "It shouldn't." He couldn't seem to look away from the scratches on Tenko's neck, still bleeding slugglishy and stinging like the tears he couldn't cry. "You shouldn't... _Please_ don't do that to yourself!"

Maybe it was something in Izuku's eyes. Care and warmth and concern. Maybe it was because Izuku was like him, Izuku would understand. Maybe it was because the burning feeling in his eyes was suddenly overpowering.

"I-I didn't mean to!" Idly, he realised he was crying. The tears burned at his face and his fingers twitched compulsively. It hurt. It hurt and his neck itched and his heart was an ugly, bleeding mess.

"I-I didn't mean to k-kill them." The whisper was quiet. His voice was hoarse with crying and guilt, but Tenko knew Izuku had heard him, with the way his eyes had widened.

Shock. Complete and utter shock. Izuku looked like his world had just shattered all over again.

Tenko had known on some level that Izuku had seen them all as heroes. How could he not? Tenko knew what it was like to be saved. To suddenly have his entire world transformed into something so wonderful and full of light that he hadn't even dared to dream it could exist. Tenko still saw Sensei as a hero. Even though he knew that Sensei was a villain.

And that was why Tenko had tried to hide everything from Izuku. Because Izuku didn't deserve to have the illusion of everything being okay and safe and _happy_ break apart again. Because Tenko didn't think he could handle Izuku hating him.

But...

 _"They're praised and famous and it all seems so glamourous. But they're all fake."_

Tenko forced himself to look away from Izuku. He didn't want to see the look of betrayal he knew was coming.

 _"I want to destroy them."_

"That's right." He said, and his voice was hollow and hoarse and heartless. "I'm a villain."

He closed his eyes and waited for the sound of footsteps. He closed his eyes and waited for Izuku to run away. That was what people did. They ran away from villains so they would survive. They ran away from monsters because they were afraid.

So Tenko was completely taken by surprise when a small form barreled into his side and clung there stubbornly.

"I don't care about any of that." Izuku wailed. "None of it matters! Just d-don't hurt yourself p-please."

Tenko paused, and stared numbly at Izuku. Izuku... didn't care? But he never liked violence. He'd hate the thought of Tenko killing anyone. He'd hate Tenko now. So why didn't he care?

"I hurt you." He pointed out dully, failing to stop the giult from leaking into his voice.

"It was an accident." Izuku mumbled. "You didn't mean to."

"But-"

This was all _wrong_. Izuku should hate him. Izuku should be scared of him. Izuku should _blame_ him.

"People make mistakes all the time." Izuku interrupted, making Tenko smile slightly. The boy really had changed from the timid, scarred child that Tenko had saved from the street.

"So promise me that you'll never do that again." Izuku's voice was solemn and serious and he sounded so much _older_ in that moment.

"I'll try." Tenko promised. It was harder and harder to think of glassy eyes and silence and blood like blossoms when Izuku was hugging him like he'd never let go. "I'll try my best."

 _"So you don't need to worry, Izuku. We'll get this all sorted out."_

"And I'll help." Izuku promised, managing a smile. "So we'll get through this."

Tenko laughed weakly. "When did you get so good at helping people?"

 _"So what if you're quirkless? That doesn't change anything."_

Izuku shrugged. "Must've picked it up from you guys."

Tenko snorted. His fingers twitched and he wanted so badly to claw at his neck, but he'd _promised._ So instead, he ruffled Izuku's hair, carefully so he didn't destroy anything.

"Never change, Izuku."

Maybe he _was_ a villain. Maybe he _was_ a bad guy. But it was all going to be okay, because Izuku had promised it would, and that was enough for Tenko to cling on to. He'd be able to fight his was back now.

"Let's get back to the bar now. Kurogiri and Sensei are worried too." Izuku suggested brightly, and just like that, pulled Tenko back into the light.

And back in the bar, with Kurogiri fretting, Sensei's quiet concern and Izuku's reassuring smile, Tenko could believe that things were going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

Izuku would never forget the first time he met Sensei in person.

It was a few years after the incident with Tenko and the failed mission. Nothing had really changed, except that Izuku would wait in the bar with Kurogiri for Tenko to arrive home from the missions.

And if he fell asleep waiting, then Kurogiri would shake him awake when Tenko arrived. It was nice for all of them, Izuku thought, even if none of them really needed reminding that they had people waiting for them at home anymore.

Sensei had always been there. Quiet and thoughtful and kind. Sometimes he was quiet, and all they could hear was the soft hum of static, and sometimes he'd spent hours talking with them.

Izuku had always imagined what Sensei had looked like.

 _"And you were spot on- Sensei cannot be here because he has a rather... severe injury."_

Every single one of Izuku's thoughts had contained the sterile smell of hospitals, the steady throbbing sound of static and scars.

He wasn't disappointed.

When Izuku first met Sensei, he was alone.

Kurogiri had warped him over and then left. Izuku's first thought that it was cold. His second thought was that it was lonely.

The walls were clean and sterile. The room had been robbed of colour and was lit only by the flickering florescuent lighting and the eerie blue glow of a computer screen.

"Hello, Izuku." Even without the static and hum of machines, the voice was familar.

"Sensei." Izuku carefully clambered his way over to where the voice had travelled from. He found himself staring at the high back of a leather chair. Wires draped over the back of the chair, like spiderwebs: thin and fragile.

There was a constant beep of the heart monitor, a morbid reminder that Sensei had been _hurt_ and reduced to a voice cloaked in static and mechanical whirring. (Later, Izuku would wonder if the static was there to hide the heart monitor, so they wouldn't worry).

" _A rather... severe injury."_

Izuku wondered who had hurt someone as nice as Sensei. Sure he was a villain... But heroes weren't meant to hurt people. Heroes were meant to defeat the bad guys, not mangle them!

Heroes were meant to help people...

"In the spirit of fairness, my face is rather hideous." The voice said pleasantly.

Izuku blinked. "I-"

Before he could say anything, the chair span around, and Izuku gaped up at the man's face in horror.

It was a mess of scar tissue, warped and twisted. It looked like Sensei had nearly died. It looked like Sensei was still hurting...

"I can imagine the look on your face." The man commented drily. "I know it isn't pleasant to look at."

"W-who?" Izuku whimpered. Sensei was a villain. Sensei was one of the nicest people Izuku knew. Sensei cared. Sensei didn't deserve any of it.

Even if he was a villain... No, no one deserved to have to live with the injuries that had crippled Sensei.

"You might not like the answer." Sensei warned gently. "It's not nice."

The heart monitor continued beeping, ringing through the silence.

There was a sigh. "It was All Might."

The heart monitor continued with it's funeral march as Izuku's faith in heroes shattered.

A bright smile. A smile that meant it was _okay_. The idea that someone would be there to make things better, even when everything seemed hopeless. That was what All Might stood for.

 _"The heroes will come and save him."_

The image of Sensei's face with it's stretched scars and distorted smile. That was what All Might stood for, too.

"Why?" Izuku's voice was barely more than a choked, defeated whisper.

Sensei smiled. It seemed sad. A chair materialised next to Izuku.

"Let me tell you a story, Izuku. It starts a long time ago, back when quirks had only just started appearing..."

The heart monitor continued, still. A reminder of what the heroes had done. A reminder of what All Might had done.

A reminder that despite it all Sensei was still alive, and that he still had work to do.

* * *

"So your quirk lets you give and take quirks?" Izuku asked quietly after Sensei finished his story.

He looked lost, huddled in a chair that suddenly looked far too big for him. He looked like his world had just shattered and put itself back together into something different, something strange.

"Yes." Sensei said simply. "I took an immortality quirk a long, long time ago, in case you were wondering."

Izuku nodded noiselessly. He felt numb.

All Might. All Might was the hero he'd always looked up to, the hero who always won with a smile. All Might was the strongest, the bravest- the _best._

Izuku had idolised All Might for as long as he could remember, but in that moment, he couldn't muster the admiration he normally felt for All Might. Instead, his mind was flooded with memories of Sensei's voice, Sensei's laughter and the soft sound of static.

All Might was untouchable. He was a hero, he was a legend. But Sensei... Sensei was real. He knew Sensei. Sensei cared and Sensei was hurt, Sensei had been mangled by All Might.

"So now you know the whole truth." Sensei stated calmly.

He did know the truth. It wasn't pretty and it _hurt._ Because he'd believed that All Might was good, that he was the best hero . But that image was warped now, like the scars stretching across Sensei's face. Because All Might had done that to Sensei and Iuzku didn't care that Sensei or Tenko or Kurogiri were villains, they were his _family._

"It's not what I expected." Izuku mumbled, his mind racing with thought of heroes and the battles that weren't so pretty, and the stories that didn't have happy endings.

It wasn't fair. Sensei deserved a happy ending. They all did.

"What will you do now?" The question was spoken gently, as though Sensei felt sorry for him. Izuku tensed all the same, as though he'd yelled.

 _"People make mistakes all the time."_

Izuku thought about everything he knew about villains. They hurt people. They were cruel, they were the ones he was meant to be scared of, they were _wrong._

Izuku thought of Tenko's smug smirk, of Kurogiri's quiet fretting and Sensei's static and concern. They were villains, but they'd taken him in, they'd given him an education... So he could walk away if he wanted. They'd cared when he was nothing and nobody. They were the first people to believe that he wasn't useless because he was quirkless.

He thought of pain, next. Of Kacchan's cruel smile, the sound of explosions and children laughing. He thought of the smell of alcohol and smoke and yelling that wasn't quite muffled by the walls. He thought of being cold and scared and hungry, and the heavy knowledge that everyone else had just one more weapon that would help them survive, when he had nothing.

He thought of All Might's plastic smile, and Sensei's smile, twisted by scars and pain and memories.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." He decided. He didn't want to be like Kacchan, or the other kids he'd had to hide from. He didn't want to be like All Might. Sensei didn't say anything, he looked almost resigned, and Izuku wondered if he had known if this was how it would end up the entire time.

 _"Your name can be read as Deku. It means useless. Just like you."_

But his entire world had crumpled because people were cruel. And there'd been a time when he knew that if he had the power, he would have been cruel, to fight, to survive.

Because even innocent people would have to fight if it was their only choice. Even innocent people could kill, could be turned into villains if the heroes didn't save them in time.

And heroes didn't save villains. They attacked them and locked them up.

They hurt the villains, like they'd hurt Sensei. They might even hurt Tenko like that, too.

Yet... Tenko had saved him, and Sensei had saved Tenko. They were heroes in their own ways, even though they were called villains. Villains could save people, too.

"But... But I want to help you, if I can. I want to follow in your footsteps and try and change the world... If I can... I just want to help!"

Sensei beamed.

It was nothing like All Might's smile, but Izuku was sick of All Might's smile. Sensei's smile looked like it hurt, but unlike All Might's smile, it looked _real._

"Izuku, you are certainly welcome to try and help us change the world! We told you once that it didn't matter if you were quirkless, and that still stands true..."

Izuku froze. He knew where Sensei was going with this.

"I have no doubt that your assistance will be instrumental to our success regardless of whether or not you accept the quirks I am offering you, but I think they'll be useful."

Once upon a time, he'd dreamed of being a hero. He'd dreamed of having a quirk that could save people. He'd dreamed of being useful and being able to save people.

And he still wanted that... He wanted to help the people that the heroes had hurt. He wanted to help the people that had become his family.

He reached out and accepted Sensei's outstretched hand.

The last thing he saw before his world went dark was Sensei's proud smile.

* * *

Izuku decided that he really liked his new quirks.

He was still giddy from the idea of having a quirk. Not just one, but two! They were both really useful, they could both be used to help people, and they were both _his._

He wasn't Deku anymore. He wasn't powerless anymore. He wouldn't run away anymore.

But he wouldn't fight, either. He'd find his own way to make things better, to make people smile again. He'd heal.

The first quirk he'd been given was simple. He could heal himself and others with a touch. He was already beginning to analyse the quirk: whether it was his own stamina that impacted it, whether or not he could use alternative energry sources, whether his diet would impact it...

Tenko had already helped him start planning. In fact, Tenko had been thrilled that Izuku had a quirk and they had already started analysing it and its potential uses.

And his second quirk... He'd discovered it solely by accident, when he'd tripped when running over to help Tenko with his game and just kept on falling.

He hadn't realised what had happened, the world appeared to have turned upside down and he was disorientated, trying to deal with the jarring loss of direction. Then Tenko had taken an uncertain step forward, looking confused, and Izuku's world had jolted.

A mere two seconds later, a shell shocked Izuku had emereged from Tenko's shadow, pale and trembling.

Kurogiri chuckled. "I hadn't thought you'd get _that_ quirk. It's been a while since I've seen the ability to walk in shadows."

Tenko blinked. "The ability to walk in shadows? That's pretty cool!"

Izuku smiled shakily, still staring warily at the shadows stretched out in front of him. "It is." He agreed.

Kurogiri's eyes glinted in the way that meant he was amused. "I'll help you with using your quirk, if you'd like. I imagine that entering and leaving shadows will have a similar affect to opening and closing warp gates."

Izuku beamed. "Thanks!"

Somewhere dark and lonely, screened by static, Sensei smirked.

* * *

 **A/N: Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the longer than usual wait for a chapter: I just haven't had the time to write anything for a long time, so the poorer quality of this chapter is also owing to the time I spent away from the plot.**

 **Unfortunately, my schedule will only become busier and more stressful for roughly the next three months, so I have no choice but to delay updates in that time. By no means is this discontinued: I do have a plot planned out and I do intend to finish this, but I will not have the time to do so in the forseeable future.**

 **Sorry! :'(**


	7. Chapter 7

Anyone that knew Bakugo would say that he was he was a good friend.

Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, and was prone to losing his temper. Sure, he yelled a lot, but he was surely the type of person to never abandon a friend.

Few people noticed that the nicknames he gave people, while crude, were never insulting. No, if he gave someone a nickname, it was enough to make them know that they belonged, that he wouldn't turn his back on them.

 _"Your name can be read as Deku. It means useless. Just like you."_

Far, far fewer people would see how, when he lost his temper, when his hands would tremble, and he'd take deep, shuddering breaths until he calmed down, that he'd close his eyes and count his way through steps a therapist had sat down and help him come up with to manage his anger.

Bakugo Katsuki had changed from the boy everyone adored for his quirk. He'd changed from the boy that had driven away his friend over a lack of a quirk. He'd changed into someone he hoped that Izuku would be proud of.

He'd changed into the kind of person he hoped would be able to find Izuku, and help him come home.

It hadn't been easy. There had been anger management and there had been learning to let go and the even harder learning to move forward.

They all had needed to learn. Him. His family. And Inko.

And Bakugo _had_ learned to move forwards. He just had to constantly look back, to remind himself which direction not to walk in, to remind himself not to become a monster.

He looked back, so he knew exactly the kind of hero he wanted to become.

 _"He'll be a great hero! He has the quirk and personality for it."_ He'd heard them all say it. _"I'm sure he'll go far, that one."_

And he couldn't care less. Caring about what other people had thought had filled his head with shit, and he knew it. Caring about what other people had thought had led to Izuku running away, because no one cared and no one helped him.

He knew what he needed to do, and that was all that mattered. He needed to become a hero that could save Izuku. He needed to become a hero that would never leave anyone behind. Because that was the kind of hero Izuku would have admired and trusted to save him. That was the kind of hero All Might was.

And he'd started becoming that hero, by becoming a friend that would never, ever drive his friends away to the point where he couldn't reach them.

* * *

Inko Midoriya had managed to move forwards but had never quite mastered the art of not looking back.

Looking back felt too much like leaving Izuku behind, like letting him vanish into the night, a small plastic figure clutched in his hands as his only defence.

But she couldn't rewind time. She couldn't ever comfort her son or make things better for him. (She still wished she could. It still hurt and it would never stop hurting.)

So instead she moved forwards. She'd left Hisashi. She wondered it he regretted it- the arguing, his decisions, his prejudice. She hoped he did. She hoped he was hurting. Their actions had cost them their son.

She couldn't stand it. So she'd left Hisashi behind. But she couldn't leave the memory of Izuku behind, and never would. She'd never forget the way he smiled, the way he'd cried when his dreams were crushed when he was told he was quirkless, and she'd never forget the way she failed him.

He'd always loved heroes. He'd replayed that one video of All Might saving people from a disaster, from something so utterly hopeless, again and again and again.

She wasn't strong enough to be a hero. She wasn't strong enough to save everyone.

But she could save some people.

Inko Midoriya moved forwards. She became a social worker. She worked to give children a better home and a happy ending.

But she never forgot. No matter where she went, tucked away and unseen in her bag, was a small action figure of All Might, with one arm torn off.

* * *

UA was different. Bakugo wasn't sure how to feel about it, really.

It almost didn't seem real. The enterance exam had passed in a blur, the screech of metal being blown apart, his hands stinging as the exam dragged on, and so many people, with terrified faces and determined eyes.

Everything was new. At least back at his former school, he'd known people from before. They'd become friends, they'd come to trust each other.

And then he was alone again. Everything was unfamiliar.

Moving forwards was a different kind of letting go. It was strange and startling and surprising. He'd expected to feel a little nervous, sure. He always did, but he never showed it. Because heroes weren't nervous. The people he would save didn't need to see their own fear reflected back at them. That wasn't how it worked.

Instead of just nervous, he felt uncertain and almost daunted. It almost reminded him of a time when he'd thought that he'd never be a hero at all, because he'd acted like a villain and hurt someone he should have been protecting. And it reminded him of how much further he had to go, before he could fix anything.

So he'd kept his head held high. He'd walked into his new school, his new _life._ He'd seen his classmates. All of them were strong, crafty and determined. It was plain to see.

Aizawa's test came as a shock. Not because of the test itself. Being able to use his quirk for a test was so _liberating._ He was moving forwards, he was finally closer to becoming a hero!

But then Minoru Mineta was expelled. He was last in their class, and he paid the price for it. There was yelling, but Bakugo didn't remember exactly what the boy had yelled.

He remembered the hoarse hope and desperate denial. Then the defeat...

And suddenly it was all _real_. They were going to be heroes. There was no room for doubt or 'maybe'. From here on out, they had to be enough, or else someone would pay the price. From here on out, they had to keep moving forwards, they had to keep up, otherwise they'd be left behind. And by doing that, they'd become strong enough to never have to leave anyone behind. At least he hoped so. He really hoped so.

After the disaster of the first day, the entirety of class 1-A had turned and walked back to their classroom in silence. It had felt like acceptance.

The next day, there was someone else sitting in Mineta's seat. Someone else willing to take Mineta's place. Someone else ready to be put to the test, ready to become a hero.

Everyone was moving forwards. So he would too, and he'd become a hero that everyone could look up to.

And they'd move forwards together. He'd find friends among his classmates, and they'd move forwards together, because heroes wouldn't leave each other behind. Heroes wouldn't leave their friends behind or drive them away.

And Bakugo was going to become a hero everyone could look up to, some day yet. He wasn't there yet- he had a long way to go, and he knew it- but this was a start.

* * *

Meanwhile, All for One was proud.

Never before had he been so pleased to have one of his plans be completely ruined. His plans were normally perfect: carefully crafted and with room for error. Every single idea had a thousand back up plans. Rarely, so very rarely, would one of his plans go so wrong that it was completely unsalvageable.

So Tenko Shimura had been a surprise.

The original plan had been simple. He'd let Tenko Shimura become Tomura Shigaraki, the very monster Kurogiri had seen. And Tomura Shigaraki, childish and cold and careless, would become unstoppable.

By thinking like a child, Tomura would become unpredictable. He'd believe that anything was possible, and he'd believe that he could and would win, because he'd believe in his own happy ending more than anything else.

He'd have the same drive and determination as the very heroes he'd want to destroy.

But then all of those plan shattered when Tenko showed compassion. He helped another child. He'd saved someone and he'd grown to care about them.

And then he'd started to grow.

There was no going back to the childish, selelfish monster he'd intended to create. But this was better. Far, far better.

People were so much more dangerous when they were scared of losing something. And Tenko Shimura would rather die before letting anything happen to Izuku, or Kurogiri, or even the mentor who'd taken him off the streets and given him a purpose.

And so Tomura Shigaraki valued loyalty, and had a plan for the end game.

All for One sat alone, surrounded by chemicals and wires and static, and stared intently at the bright screen with a bright future. Tomura Shigaraki stood in a crowded bar, full of villains. They listened as he spoke.

All of them had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Society had chosen their path for them, they were outcasts, they were poor, they were villains. All of them had wanted change, they had wanted something to belong to, and they'd found the League of Villains.

And Tomura knew all about pawns. Every single piece in the game was important. If kept alive, a pawn could always become a queen.

These people mattered. If the League was going to become big and powerful, if the League was going to become a _threat_ , then Tomura needed them.

And All for One was proud. The plan had _potential._ The very values of perseverence and camaraderie that were a core part of heroism would be turned against the mighty 'good guys' and they'd fall.

They'd fall to the very monsters they'd created.

So as Tomura stood in front of people, who were wiling to listen, willing to _try_ , not quite yet willing to follow unconditionally (but the possibility was there, if they could pull this off...) and spoke of glory and futures, All for One was _proud_.

As he assured them that he had a plan to get them all out safely, that showed that he thought they mattered, that they were worth saving, All for One was proud.

He knew they'd win. Tomura had Izuku behind him. Tomura had the League behind him. Maybe they wouldn't win the first battle, but they'd definitely win the war.

The age of heroes would end with the League of Villains, this plan, this attack- it was all only the first step.


	8. Chapter 8

Having All Might as a teacher was surreal. Everything about the man seemed larger than life, his confidence and booming laughter and reassuring smile was everything the headlines had promised.

His first lesson had certainly left a strong impact. From the moment he'd entered the classroom, famous smile fixed in place, everything about him had screamed ' _Hero!_ '.

Bakugo, like most of the class, had hardly been able to wait for All Might's lessons. It was hard not to- he was famous, he was known for doing the impossible, he was _the best._

All Might didn't disappoint. He was just as colourful, just as charismatic and just as _cool_ in person.

(And if briefly, ever so briefly, Bakugo's hands had trembled and he'd thought of a long lost friend, with large eyes, scraped knees and would always, always have an All Might action figure clenched in a small, bruised fist, well... He was fairly sure no one noticed.)

So Bakugo was hardly surprised when they were whisked away for a lesson where they'd be required to fight.

Putting his costume for the first time felt like a commitment. It was strange and heavy and so _different_ from anything he'd worn before. It felt like a uniform, because it meant he had a duty now, to be the one to run out, to be the one to save people. It meant that he'd be the one who'd run into danger, would offer his hand to help people.

So he wore it with pride.

"Oh man, that's so _cool!_ " One of his classmates squealed as he joined the small group of students waiting to start the training exercise.

"Thanks," Bakugo muttered, staring the boy in front of him- red, spiky hair and an awkward, friendly smile that reminded him too much of Izuku- and completely failed to recall his name. "Sorry, I can't remember your name." He admitted after an awkward pause.

The boy laughed, seeming relieved. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows like, maybe two names. I'm Eijiro Kirishima!"

For a moment, he thought about not trying. Just laughing or lashing out, because he would inevitably slip up. He could try and try, but he'd always be rough around the edges and harsh. He'd swear and scream and argue, but he tried, and he'd always managed to maintain friendships through effort (and being able to apologise) and understanding.

But seeing All Might had dragged up memories of shadowed green eyes, filled with hurt and heartbreak- emotions that should have raised alarm bells, emotions that he'd caused- and it reminded him why it was always, _always_ worth it to try.

Instead of lauging, Bakugo snorted. "I'm Katsuki Bakugo." Then he blinked, and stared at the Kirishima's costume. "Is your costume inspired by Crimson Riot?" He asked before he could stop himself. At his old school, nearly everyone had been a hero nerd, although some had tried to hide it, and Kirishima was clearly proud of his admiration of the old hero, because the boy _beamed_.

"Yep! I want to be the same type of hero as him- he's so manly!" Kirishima explained excitedly. And then, as more and more students, all wearing bright colours full of hopes and heroics, came to join the small waiting crowd, Kirishimra began to explain exactly why Crimson Riot was such a source of inspiration. Once, Bakugo might have just zoned out, or even told him to just shut up, but instead, he listened, and decided that he was definitely going to be friends with the boy who trusted the world with the heart he wore on his sleeve.

Because Bakugo had learnt to value friendship. He'd learnt how to care and how to show that he cared... And he'd learnt how to value that trait in others, so he'd already decided that Kirishima was going to be a great friend.

And knowing that there were people he could become friends with, people he could work towards his goal with, made everything just that little bit easier to handle.

* * *

Bakugo had hoped that he'd end up partnered with Kirishima when All Might announced the random pairings for the training exercise. The other teen was easy to get along with and had a strong quirk.

But the reality of heroics would be this: they could be called into combat at any time, they could end up working with anyone against anything. They wouldn't always know who they'd be working with, they wouldn't aways like them. But in they end, they'd have to work together, they'd have to adapt. Because they _had_ to recognise that saving people was more important.

Still, Hagakure Tooru was proving rather easy to get along with... Even if she was a little overwhelming.

"Hi! I'm Tooru, you must be Bakugo, right? Cool costume! What's your quirk?"

"Explosion." Bakugo grunted, more focused on trying to keep up with the enthusiastic gestures the pair of floating gloves were making.

"That sounds powerful! My quirk is Invisibility. I guess you can see that... Well, not see, but you know what I mean!" The gloves paused and then fidgeted nervously. "Do we need to make a plan? I mean we don't know what they'll do, or even what their quirks are..."

Bakugo paused, then smirked. "I'm pretty sure if we work together, we'll be able to handle whatever Ponytail and Ears come up with. I'm pretty strong, and you look pretty sneaky."

Tooru's gloves froze. "Ears... Shoot! I think her quirk is superhearing. So if she can hear me moving, I won't be sneaky at all."

"Shit." Bakugo muttered. Then he smirked. "I wonder if she'll be able to hear you over the sound of explosions?"

Tooru giggled. "I like that idea. We're totally going to win this!"

And so when All Might gave the command, Bakugo stormed into the buidling, explosions making the walls rattle, and Tooru slipped off her gloves and vanished in all the smoke and confusion.

"I haven't found them yet." She reported. "So I think they might be on the floor above us."

"Sounds good." Bakguo stomped up the stairs, his arms beginning to ache from the force of exlosions he'd been constantly firing off.

Thankfully, it appeared his search was over, because after turning the first corner, he found a door boarded shut with metal.

"Found them. You were right." He yelled, which warranted a yelp from Tooru. Right. He'd forgotten about the earpieces.

He fired an explosion at the door. It didn't work, and once the smoke cleared, the metal was stubbornly intact.

Briefly, he looked down at his gauntlets.

They could work. They'd definitely pack enough of a punch to tear the metal away. But... He had no idea if Ponytail and Ears would be in the room, and whether or not the debris would hit them, or even Tooru, because he had no idea where she was.

If this was real, he hoped that he'd be better. The situation was awful. He didn't want to hurt his classmates, and he had no idea where his ally was. He didn't want to be the type of hero who refused help or couldn't save people due to pride.

If this was real, he wanted to be able to do more than just use multiple explosions and hope that the others would realise what he was doing and get out of the way before they were hurt.

And if this was real, he'd have no pity for the villains. Because he'd felt awful, and he'd ruined someone's life, and the consequences still stayed with him, and always would. But villains hurt people and broke them and they didn't care, and kept on doing it. They'd deserve his full strength. Because by defeating a villain, he'd be helping someone else, and stopping them from hurting.

The match ended quickly after that. He burst through the doors, shrouded by smoke and his arms stinging.

And he immediately stared aghast at the sight that greeted him. Ears was collapsed near the fake bomb, clutching her ears and shaking, and Ponytail was standing guard over her and the bomb, a spear held so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, and she was trembling.

For a moment, they just stared at him, and he glanced back and forth between them and his hands, and swore to do better, because his quirk was meant to help, not harm. There was a tense silence, and the silence seemed more deafening than the explosions from mere seconds before.

They were both so distracted that none of them noticed the tape appearing to wrap itself around the bomb, until All Might's broke throught the silence.

"Hero team wins!"

Tooru cleared her throat. "Hi?"

* * *

It took a while for Ears to recover, but she reassured them that she was fine, yes really, and she'd had worse. She seemed embarrased by the whole thing. Her cheeks were flushed with humiliation.

She'd also just shrugged when both Bakugo and Ponytail had apologised. Bakguo had felt like a villain, seeing her collapsed because of his quirk, and an ugly mixture of guilt and shame had coiled in his stomach and sat there like poison.

Ponytail had apparently tried to create something that could muffle the noise, and had come close, but failed, as she didn't know the precise mechanisms well enough. So she'd been shaken and helpless as her partner collapsed from the pain.

Ears just shrugged though, with a small smirk. "I've had worse, so don't worry so much. Really."

By the time they reached their classmates, Ears seemed to have completely recovered.

All Might's expression was unreadable for a moment, then he smiled. "That was a good start. Now, who can tell me how things could have gone better?"

And for the next five minutes, the boy with the glasses explained everything Bakugo had already realised.

He might have been angry once. He'd failed, he'd backed himself into a corner. If it was real, then he wouldn't have saved anyone... Instead, he stood there, and forced his hands to stop shaking, and slowly worked his way through the steps that helped him cope with his anger.

He'd do better next time. And he'd keep doing better until one day, he'd be good enough. That was learning, that was moving forwards.

So when the boy with the glasses stopped talking and All Might asked if anyone had any questions, Bakugo raised his hand, and pointed at Ears and Ponytail.

"Sorry... But what are your names again?"

He was pleasantly surprised to hear Kirishima burst into laughter from the back of the crowd.

* * *

Bakugo felt much better about his own efforts after watching his classmates try the same training exercise. Everyone else struggled with communication, but the team that really struggled was Monoma and Todoroki. They were the villains in their particular exercise, and Bakugo watched as they argued in silence.

He would've blinked and missed the enitre building suddenly becoming coated in a shimmering shield of ice.

Apparently Monoma wasn't too happy about Todoroki's plan, because he shoved the other boy angrily, face still twisted with anger. Whatever he said didn't sit well with Todoroki, because they were yelling again.

Bakugo wondered what they were saying.

Meanwhile, the heroes had gone pale upon seeing the building become coated in ice. Then, Uraraka had shrugged, and turned to Kirishima.

She must have had a quirk that could manipulate gravity, because a second later, they were floating above the building. She gave him a slight push so he was hovering over the room the ice had spread from. Krishima's quirk activated and a second later he was falling.

There was no way for him to know that at the very same time he'd dropped, that Todoroki and Monoma had turned on each other, with Monoma's left side bursting into light- bright and brutal and burning.

And the flames so clearly illuminated the horror, the anger and the _fear_ on Todoroki's pale face.

So Kirishima and Uraraka were the only ones surprised when everything exploded. All of the cameras jolted to only show static, and there was a long moment of silence, before everyone was moving at once, all intent on helping their injured classmates.

And even later, when Bakugo was waiting for Kirishima to finish his check-up with Recovery Girl, Todoroki's face haunted him. For that one moment, the boy had looked close to crying or screaming or just plain _breaking._

He'd looked like he'd just lost everything.

* * *

Izuku had caught up to Tenko, right before he left, just to wish him luck. He was still dressed in the suit he'd wear when he'd help Kurogiri serve customers- there had been far more villains gathering at the bar recently, so Kurogiri had been a little overwhelmed- and he had clearly ran to catch up with Tenko, because his face was flushed and he'd skidded to a halt roughly three seconds before he would've run into Tenko and sent them both flying.

For a second, Tenko's mind drifted back to a time when he'd come back from missons, battered and bleeding, to see Izuku waiting for him, perched on a stool with wide eyes.

Then he blinked, and Izuku wishing him luck, with earnest eyes and a calm smile.

"You probably don't need any luck, though! I'm sure you'll do great!"

Tenko managed a shaky smile. This was all on him. It was the first step towards the bigger plan. He couldn't mess this up.

He couldn't. Because everything depended on it. Without the information he needed to steal from UA, nothing could move forwards.

He only had one shot, and there was so much that could go wrong... He couldn't afford the slightest slip up- he had to get everyone clamouring for information on All Might into the school and then he had to be quick. And if he couldn't get close, everything would be ruined. And if he attracted too much attention, everthing would be ruined. And-

And Izuku caught his hands as they had slowly moved towards his neck, intent on clawing at his growing panic and the memory of not being able to breathe.

"Right, sorry." Tenko shuddered, and Izuku gave him a concerned look.

That look of concern jolted him out of his fear more than anything else. Because Izuku was the person he would protect, and he couldn't do that if he was scared. He would create a better world for everyone, and he couldn't do that if he was scared. He needed to be the one to take the first step, and to do that, he needed to be brave.

So he grinned at Izuku. "I'll be back before you know it."

Then he turned and walked away, and this time, he didn't even need to look back.


	9. Chapter 9

Shouto Todoroki wasn't sure what he'd expected from UA but it wasn't this. The first few days had been hectic, and he didn't think it was a good thing.

Endeavour had been furious, that his son, his 'greatest creation' had not only failed to complete his first training exercise, but had also recieved detention from All Might, the very man Shouto had been 'created to surpass'.

The training session had lasted until the sky was becoming lighter with the first milky rays of dawn. The bruises would linger longer, though, as would the dull pain and duller satisfaction. Because in those remorseless blue eyes, Endeavour finally looked as angry as Shouto felt.

But Shouto handled his anger differently. Endeavour's rage was like fire, it simmered and bubbled beneath the surface and it was fuelled by resolve and sudden events. Take away the fuel, and everything would burn out into ash and skeletons of smoke, the damage would be done, the anger would be something more managable, once he'd hurt someone, he'd storm away leaving everything he'd hurt behind him, and that would be that, for him.

But Shouto's anger boiled and then froze over. He kept it all locked away inside him, and it slowly built up into his resolve. It was like a glacier, it was transparent, he knew the root of it, he knew all of the logic behind it, and it would one day be unstoppable, if nothing changed.

Shouto used his anger like a shield. He wouldn't break, he wouldn't ever use his fire. He didn't care what his father thought, he wouldn't give _anyone_ that satisfaction.

 _"Your tantrum has led you to become pathetic, a dulled weapon. I didn't raise you like this."_

Monoma's words would stay with him even longer. Because Monoma's words were accompanied by a memory, a memory he'd seen a thousand times before in nightmare after nightmare.

Small golden flames had blossomed into life and danced across Monoma's left side, and for an instant, he'd seen himself. Then he'd seen his father, and the mere thought of a connection made him feel numb.

Because it was still there, wasn't it?

His resolve hadn't mattered in the end. Because Monoma had just snatched his quirk, and thrown everything in his face.

And his words had hung in that moment of silence, before everything became overwhelming and he'd just wanted the fire to disappear, go back to being locked away, where it couldn't hurt anyone or remind him of his father.

 _"This quirk is so powerful... You really are lucky."_

Shouto wished that one of the insults Monoma had yelled at him had stuck instead. He wished that he lived in a world where power wasn't everything, and he wasn't lucky Shouto Todoroki with his lucky quirk and his lucky life.

School had been lonely. He wasn't sure what he'd even wanted, but the lonliness, while not unexpected, still stung. Ever since the first day, no one had approached him, and there could be a thousand reasons why.

But none of them made it any easier to watch his classmates form friendships, like it was all just that easy. A shared dream was more than enough for people to start talking, start smiling.

So it was almost a relief for the alarms to ring and everyone to panic. Because it was something he could overcome with logic, and it served as a nice distraction.

And by the end of it all, the only thing that had changed was the newfound trust in Iida and Yaoyorozu in their roles of authority.

Privately, Todoroki thought that the trust was already there. The rest of the class had learned how _real_ this would be the second they all watched Minoru Mineta walk away, and had voted for those they knew would be able to shoulder the burden the best.

Iida had proved himself to be competent and thoughtful when he'd analysed his peers' performances in the training exercises with All Might. Yaoyorozu's promise to Jirou to be better next time, and her unwavering resolve had been inspiring.

Everyone knew they were in safe hands, and they'd move forwards together, with their friends and with people there to help them catch up if they fell behind.

And Todoroki couldn't tell if he'd been left behind by his classmates already, or if he was so far ahead of them, so far above them, trapped on the pedestal his lucky father had placed him on.

* * *

The morning was perfectly innocent. It was bright and sunny and there had even been fewer villains rampaging the streets.

There were fewer villains rampaging on the streets, because they were somewhere else. Somewhere they would belong and fight and weren't afraid of falling.

And this was owed entirely to Tomura Shigaraki. He was charismatic. He had proved himself. He was easy to believe in. And for people who had nothing, for people who had lost everything, they needed something, anything to believe in.

Others were in it for other reasons. They wanted wealth, they wanted money, they wanted _more._ They wanted the washed out dreams that they'd left behind, or they wanted something to make their life interesting.

He knew what it was like to be scared of losing, and he spoke about it, he let them know that he was stronger for trying.

With words came understanding, and with understanding came committment. And all the movement, all the ideas of change and destruction became something interesting. Something people would fight for, because they had decided to risk trying.

They'd join because they wanted something. Something better, something to make them happier, something to save them, from the world or from themselves. From their boring or dissatisfying lives.

They were villains. They'd already decided what they wanted, and so the heroes couldn't save them. The heroes _hadn't_ saved them, and that was the root of the problem, for most of them. Most of them lived in poverty, and watched as heroes flaunted wealth and expensive gadgets. So they, in turn, would make the heroes wonder what it was like to not be saved, because they were villains, and they'd follow that path to the end, whatever the reason they chose it.

And if this worked, they would have something more to show for it.

* * *

The excitement on the bus was nearly tangible. In every seat, students laughed and chattered and smiled.

Bakugo was listening to Kirishima debate the appeal of flashy quirks with Momo, and soon it became a full blown discussion. Evveryone had an opinion, everyone wanted to be heard, and it all felt like belonging.

Todoroki sat quietly in a corner, and listened, just as Bakugo was. But he kept silent as Monoma sung the praises of flashy quirks for distractions and publicity, and hated his own flashy quirk.

He heard the others agree, mentioning how much easier it was to be noticed with a brighter, better quirk, and wondered, as his bruises throbbed, if he'd ever actually belong in this world.

* * *

Things went wrong very, very quickly. Thirteen was waiting for them, as planned. Thirteen gave an inspirational speech, as planned. They entered the building, as planned.

The doors sliding shut behind them certainly wasn't planned. Neither was the sudden surge of black mist.

It was chaos. Students were screaming and struggling. The teachers had no idea what to attack, and instincts honed by years of battles and villain attacks were instantly on red alert.

The whole attack took seconds. When the black mist leapt away, and watched from a distance with narrowed yellow eyes, All Might, Eraserhead and Thirteen were gone.

"Apologies." The figure made out of mist said politely. To Bakugo, it felt completely out of place, with all of the students still reeling with the shock of the attack. Their teachers had just been whisked away, safety turned to danger in _seconds_ , and he apologised.

Like manners had any place on a battlefield.

In an attack, manners and flimsy gestures meant nothing. Words were weightless if they were solely for the sake of politeness. Actions, decisions, being able to _move_ meant everything.

"I will not attack you unless you attack me first. To involve students in a quarrel meant for their teachers would be truly regrettable." The man made of mist told them, like he was discussing the weather.

"And attacking our teachers is something _villains_ would do." Monoma sneered, and his words were like a trigger, people started shifting into battle stances.

And disasterously, Kirishima and Satou rushed forwards, the latter having hastily swallowed sugar, and both were screaming battle cries, raw and hoarse and full of outrage. They didn't get far.

At least this time, their class knew what was happening and Bakugo was still lashing out, even as the mist surged over them like a tidal wave. Bakugo was still fighting as he drowned in the darkness.

And even as the black mist crawled over the last of his vision, he saw complete and utter, almost animalistic fear in the purple eyes next to him.

* * *

The teachers, of course, thought first of their students. A quick scan of his surroundings told Aizawa that none of his students were nearby, and that they were in the Central Plaza. Only it was very crowded.

They were surrounded by villains. Some, Aizawa could recognise, like Trapezius Head Gear known for his strength and brutality. He'd narrowly avoided capture in the weeks before by taking hostages, then using them as a distraction and fleeing. Aizawa distantly hoped they'd finally capture him when this was over.

Other villains had scars, meaning fighting experience. Others stood clustered in groups and smirking. They probably knew how to work together, then. Groups of villains weren't uncommon, the lifestyle was dangerous and alliances were a logical choice for many.

But there'd never been anything on this scale before.

This didn't bode well for any of them. Especially as they needed to end this quickly, and find their students. They were so young and inexperienced and _innocent_. And while Aizawa knew they were powerful, he was willing to bet that any of the villains here would have more experience. They had to be defeated before they could hurt his kids. Failure wasn't an option.

"Oh? Where has your smile gone, All Might?" A voice sneered. Aizawa looked to where he'd heard the sound and no doubt saw their leader for the first time.

The other villains were looking to him for signals, and he was clearly the most messed up of the lot, judging by the hand on his face. He stood proudly in the circle of villains surrounding the three heroes. Behind him, a huge, hulking monster stood silently, staring blankly forwards.

Beside him, All Might shifted, preparing to fight at a moment's notice, and although Aizawa couldn't see them, he was sure Thirteen had done the same.

Unbidden, the words from Thirteen's speech came back to him, like a ghost whispering a warning that no one could hear.

 _"Your powers are not meant to inflict harm, I hope that you leave here today with the understanding that you're meant to help people."_

All Might's face was white with fury, and Aizawa knew that he himself was in a similar state. Children were at risk here. Children. Children with whole futures ahead of them. Children who hadn't yet become a part of this conflict. Children who _weren't ready._

Powers weren't meant to harm. Powers were meant to help, to save. But for heroes, power meant protecting, and sometimes that meant harming others. Harming villains.

They'd fight if they must, and they'd win. Because heroes always won in the end. They had to, because those kids deserved to try for a happy ending.

"Well," the leader's face twisted into a grin. "let's begin the end of the age of heroes!"

And with that, everything descended into chaos.

* * *

Todoroki stared at what he assumed was the Conflagration Zone in horror. Flames danced tauntingly across the buildings and the landscape was lit with a rosy glow. He could almost imagine that any of the figures weaving through the wreckage were his father, with cold eyes and heavy fists.

The flames twirled, and Todoroki was only partly aware of the girl stumbling to her feet behind him, and instead wondered if he'd ever be free from fire.

* * *

Bakugo was still fighting as he came out the portal, still thrashing and lashing out like it would save him. He heard a wail behind him, and turned to see Aoyama stagger away from where he'd been dropped, eyes still terrified. Tsuyu, who'd landed far more quietly, turned to help him without comment.

Bakguo turned away from them, and instead stared up at the sheer cliffs of the Mountain Zone, caging them in and looming over them, like giants ready to crush them. But the cliffs weren't the real danger. No, that was the villains, already charging towards them.

Explosions roared to life in Bakugo's hands and he charged into the conflict, thinking only of protecting the two behind him.

* * *

The man made of mist sighed, and Tokoyami could only stare in horror. Almost the entirety of the class had vanished due to his quirk. He was left with only a few others. Denki, if he recalled correctly, was trembling in fear, and Yaoyorozu had planted herself in front of him in a defensive stance, eyes narrowed. Other students were trying to gather their resolve.

"How unfortunate. I have duties to attend elsewhere..." The man muttered, and Tokoyami could only stare in shock, and he could feel Dark Shadow beginning to stir, intoxicated by his shock and rage. Even with the situation being so dire, he could feel his last dregs of control slipping, and fought to somehow remain with the awful clarity.

He wanted to wake up. He wanted this to be a dream. But it was real, and it was happening and they were all in _so much danger._

"I trust you'll be able to handle things here?" With a jolt, Tokoyami realised that the villain was talking to somene else. Someone else on his side.

Meaning there was another threat.

"Oh yeah. I'll be fine here. These brats? They don't stand a chance!" An obnoxious voice chortled from behind them.

From behind them. The sudden loss of vision had left them disorientated, and with a cold, sinking horror, that even froze Dark Shadow, Tokoyami realised that this new villain was between them an the exit.

They were trapped. Trapped like animals, like lambs in a cage of lions, because they weren't ready. They were so underprepared it was almost funny. They weren't ready, they weren't! They'd never been in a real combat situation before, not real, not against people who had years and years of practice with their quirks.

And Tokoyami could feel his grip on his own quirk fading. Fading as slowly and as surely as the night did when dawn arrived. The last, fragile ribbons of control were already being swallowed by the blinding fear and anger, all fueled from the sudden, gripping desire to _live._

To live, or die fighting.

Aware that the others were doing the same, Tokoyami turned to stare down his opponent.

A repusive murky mountain stared back. Bulging yellow eyes, narrowed disconcertingly on the students were alight with malice. The kind of confident cruelty that came from knowing that you were going to win.

Misshapen teeth stretched into a grin.

"Yeah," the sludge gurgled smugly. "you aren't leaving unless you can get past me. Face it: you're trapped!"


	10. Chapter 10

Izuku wouldn't be reluctant in the slightest to admit that he was scared. Fighting and violence weren't things that sat well with him, because they dragged him back to a time when he was alone, cold and hungry and desperate.

He had tried fighting then. He'd ended up sore, scarred and scared for his efforts.

He didn't even like accompanying Tenko on his missions, because he hated having to watch people bring out the worst of themselves, as they decided the only solution was to hurt others.

Still, he knew it was necessary. And he knew being there, helping and healing, was a thousand times better than waiting, staring at the clock and wondering if Tenko would make it home. If Tenko had been forced to kill again. If...

Yes, helping was definitely better. But it made him even more scared, because in the long, anxious days before the attack, he'd taken the time to talk to the new members of the League. He liked them, they were nice and they wanted to do the right thing. They wanted to help change the world for the better!

Or at least, it was easy to convince himself that they did. Maybe they weren't all clinging to the same ideas he was, but he'd heal them all the same, because that's what he was given the power to do, and that was what he'd chosen to do with it.

So if he wasn't fast enough and they got hurt...

But he was lucky, because Tenko had thought of a plan. There couldn't be loyalty if Tomura abandoned them, just like the heroes had. There couldn't be trust if Tomura let them take the fall for the League. There couldn't be another try if they lost their members.

In the long term, Sensei had told them once, it was worth keeping as many pieces as possible, even if they were pawns, because pawns could still capture a king, if used correctly.

Tenko's plan was simple. Izuku was backup, he would stay away from most of the fighting. Kurogiri would observe all of the fights, and he'd let Izuku know if he was needed to heal anyone.

Then, if it was too dangerous, he'd warp the injured back to the bar, where they'd wait in safety until they could be treated properly.

Izuku knew Tenko had done it to keep him safe, to keep him where he could get away. That was the thing with Sensei and Tenko and Kurogiri: they always gave him a way out if he needed it. It was their way of letting him know that they cared, that they wanted the best for him. He knew that they'd make sure he was okay, before themselves, because they were family and that was simply what family did for each other.

So he would put up with the fighting, he'd heal those who stood with them, because he believed in what they were fighting for, and in the people who were fighting for it. He believed it with so much hope that it hurt, and he was determined to play his part.

"Izuku," Kurogiri materialised next to him grimly. "the group fighting the teachers could use support."

Izuku merely nodded, pulled on his mask and stepped through the portal and into the chaos.

All for a brighter future and a happy ending.

* * *

Todoroki was lucky that Uraraka was with him. In the hellish heat of the Conflagration Zone, his eyes stung with tears from the heat and his ice melted quickly.

Villains smashed through glaciers with embarassing ease, and all the while, the fire laughed with his father's voice.

But Uraraka was smart. She'd watched the villains smash spikes of ice into shards that then were trampled into slush, and then evaporated. She used her quirk to lift the shards that hadn't quite melted high above the flames, where the ice had hung like crystalline angels, with arms spread wide and ready to save them.

She waited until there were countless shards of ice hovering above them, before releasing them to rain down on the villains and fire alike.

There was a pained hiss as the ice hit the fire, and reluctantly, the flames died down, and with them, the sweltering heat dwindled. Just like that, everything was more bearable, memories of the shrill whistle of a kettle, of his father and the slow way burns healed, it all of them dimmed a little.

Because memories weren't the threat at the moment, it was the villains.

The sudden snap of cold on the roaring flames was enough to produce steam, thick fog that shrouded the villians from sight. Shouto was uneasy, not liking not knowing where his enemies were, but at least it meant that they couldn't see him or Uraraka.

Naturally, Todoroki couldn't see Uraraka as she stumbled towards him, all he could see was a hazy figure darting towards him.

He nearly froze her solid.

"Todoroki, stop! It's me!" She hissed, and he nearly couldn't hear her over the alarmed cries of the villains, and the crashes as they no doubt attacked one another.

"Sorry, I couldn't tell." He whispered back, though his had already switched to scanning the billowing steam for any threats.

"We need a plan. The steam won't last forever." Uraraka told him grimly. Even as she spoke, the steam seemed to fade, and he could see her face clearly.

Her fear. Her desperation. The grim determination that shone in the unshed tears in her eyes. Her face was an open book, and Shouto couldn't help but feel guilty.

He'd allowed his grudge and his memories to cloud his mind in a critical moment. It certainly wasn't normally like him, he supposed he could attribute his poor performance to his recent 'training session' with his father, but the idea didn't sit well. He was better than this. He was better than what his father had made him into, and he'd prove it.

"I have an idea." Todoroki told her urgently, shoving ihs doubts to the back of his mind "Get behind me."

By that point, the steam had cleared enough for him to see the hazy figures striding in the distance. They looked imposing as they paced, clearly searching for them. They were featureless, like they weren't real, just villains and he and Uraraka were just heroes, and it was all that simple.

It made everything easier.

It only took a few seconds. His right side had been honed and trained for years. Careful practice and raw power made for a dangerous combination. At least, the villains now trapped in spires of glittering ice seemed to think it was dangerous.

Todoroki stared at the ice, glinting serenely, like it was calm and unbreakable, even as the villains struggled. For a tense moment he wondered if the'd be able to break it, but it held firmly despite their thrashing and agitated movements.

"With the fire gone from the area, it should hold them for a while." He informed Uraraka flatly, even as she beamed, relief flooding her features.

"That's great!" She cheered. "We're safe."

"It won't hold them for as long as I'd like, it's still far too hot here." He sighed. "We should leave before they figure out how to free themselves."

Uraraka's smile dimmed, and Todoroki couldn't help but feel guilty. In any other area, his ice wouldn't be at risk from mekting or being weakened by the heat, and he could have managed to scare information out of the villains, but with the fact that the ice wouldn't last for a long time, he didn't think they could risk it.

Then Uraraka brightened again. "We might be able to see if we can help some of the others!"

"Yeah." Todoroki nodded, and with that the two turned and left the villains struggling in their glacial prison without looking back.

* * *

Aizawa actually took a while to catch on, and that _stung._ He'd fought against impossible odds countless times, his instincts had been carefully crafted through years of experience, and he missed all of the warning signs.

In his defence, it was complete and utter chaos. The pros had quickly separated to avoid getting in the way, because in a situation like this one, mistakes would be fatal. In fact, Aizawa couldn't even see his colleauges through the sea of villains, because there was always someone there to take the place of whoever he'd just defeated.

The problem was this: he couldn't see his colleauges through the sea of villains because there was always someone there to replace the villain he'd just defeated. It was like he hadn't really defeated anyone.

He only realised what was going on when he turned to face a villain that he _distinctly_ remembered flinging away with a deft strike from his scarf. For a fleeting moment, he was confused, because with the way Shouta fought, one strike was enough to have someone reeling, ready to be carted away by the police. Shota fought to end things quickly, and it was that simple.

But if the villains were recovering this quickly, then it could only mean one thing: they had someone with a healing quirk.

And that changed everything _._ This would quickly become a battle of endurance, and he doubted that they'd win. Unless reinforcements arrived, the villains would have the upper hand. There was a reason that heroes like Recovery Girl had been indispensible. On-field medical treatment could make all the difference, especially in situations where every second counted.

And every second did count. His students were out there, stranded in unfamiliar terrain, unused to fighting with their quirks. They could die. And it wasn't fair.

They hadn't asked for this. This wasn't their fight. It didn't involve them yet, but they'd be casualties all the same, if they lost. But his students all had potential, his students would fight until the end.

They might win. He had to believe they'd win.

He wanted to race out of there, find his students and know that they were safe, that they would live to see the end of all this. But he couldn't. Without finding the medic, there wasn't a way out. Not yet

Instead of carving a path to the edge of the crowd and racing away to protect the children he had been trusted to teach, he mentally steeled himself for a long fight and resolved to keep an eye out, just in case. If he saw the medic for even a second, it would change everything.

* * *

Izuku couldn't help but admire the raw strength of the pros. There was someone new to heal for every person he finished helping. The injuries themselves weren't too bad: mostly bruises and the occasional broken bone. But they'd still be enough to end a fight, had he not been there.

With all the practice Izuku had, it wasn't difficult, but it was incredibly draining. It helped that he knew what he was doing- the better his medical knowledge, the quicker it was for him to heal wounds, since he knew just _how_ to manipulate his quirk to help the best.

But still, even as warmth flooded through his blood as he used his quirk to heal a broken arm, he decided that being tired was a small price to pay. In fact, he was fairly sure he could last a few more hours.

"Izuku," Kurogiri materialised behind him quietly. "I'm afraid that you may be needed at the Conflagration Zone."

Izuku glanced at the man he'd just healed in concern, but he just laughed and waved his newly healed arm around. "We'll be fine. Go help the others, kid."

So Izuku stepped through the protal to be faced with shining mountains of pure ice.

And once he stepped closer, he could see the people willing to fight for their cause struggling sluggishly within.

Kurogiri sighed. "They haven't been trapped for long, thankfully, but the ice is too thick for them to break through at the moment."

Izuku stared at the gleaming prison thoughtfully. "If you could warp some of the ice away, we could probably weaken it enough for them to break out... We're going to have to be very careful."

Kurogiri stared at the uneven structure and swore.

* * *

It was becoming very apparant very quickly that their plan of 'hit the villains until they give up' wasn't working.

For one, the villains that had been stationed in this area were clearly chosen for their quirks. Tsuyu had at least three villains chasing her easily as she leapt between the sheer cliffs, and Bakugo had to keep glancing there, because he was scared she'd get caught or fall.

The sightly more infurating issue was that both Bakugo and Aoyama couldn't use their quirks fully, because they couldn't damage any of the cliffs too badly without causing one of them to collapse.

So, to put it simply, they were losing. They were fighting their hardest. They were meant to be the best of the best. They were trying harder than their best. And still, despite everything, they were still losing.

Because heroes were the ones that always won, even if impossible odds. Heroes were the ones who were meant to defeat villains. Heroes were the ones meant to save people.

And he wasn't a hero yet.

They were in areas that simply didn't work to their advantage. They weren't used to combat or using their quirks on real _people-_ because people didn't stop being people just because they made a few bad choices. They were up against impossible odds, and they _weren't good enough_.

It was getting worse. His arms were throbbing with a dull agony that rumbled in his muscles like thunder even as his palms roared with lightning. He was tired, he had to gasp for every breath and he was bleeding sluggishly from a dozen wounds.

He knew he wouldn't last much longer. He knew he was getting slower, that his explosions were getting weaker and he knew that they wouldn't win by a sudden miracle.

But he wasn't ready to die. He still had things he wanted- no, _needed-_ to do. He wanted to become the greatest hero ever. He wanted to save people. He wanted to bring Izuku home.

He'd do anything to survive this. So he could live just a little more before he died, so the last thing he'd see wouldn't be a smirking villain. He'd do anything.

Anything.

And that was how he came up with the plan. The situation was awful; they were desperate and dying.

"We're being too careful." He bellowed, making Aoyama freeze in surprise. A moment later, Tsuyu landed beside them, frowning grimly.

"What do you propose we do?" She croaked, staring unblinkingly at the villains as she spoke.

"We've been trying not to cause the cliffs to collapse. What if we make one collapse? Between us and the villains." Bakugo already hated the plan. If the actually did it, there'd be no way to control it, and no way to tell who got hurt.

But the villains didn't care about killing them, so what else could they do?

"How would we do it?" Tsuyu's dark, unhappy tone suggested that she had similar misgivings, but the slump of her shoulders told Bakugo that she couldn't see any other way out either.

"I could just fire a ton of explosions at the cliff above us. It's already sustained a lot of damage." Bakugo suggested.

"I'd be able to pull you away at the last minute." Tsuyu sighed. "It'd be risky though."

"I'll do it." Aoyama told them with none of his usual flair.

Then, before any of them could protest, Aoyama decided for them.

Bakugo didn't think he'd ever forget the arc of dazzling light that collided with the cliff face. Or the roar of the rock as it shattered and collapsed and lunged towards them. He wouldn't forget the way Aoyama whimpered in pain and tried to clutch at his stomach, even as he and Tsuyu hauled the crying boy away.

It was their escape. It wouldn't do to get caught in the crossfire. But they'd done it. They'd walk out alive, and that would be enough for him.

* * *

The plan to break the ice prison was going pretty well until everything went wrong. They'd managed to free over half the people trapped, and Kurogiri had warped them back to safety. Izuku wasn't an expert but he was fairly sure they had been fast enough to avoid any serious issues from a long exposure to the ice.

He'd have to double check after everything was over, though.

But everything started spiralling out of control after Kurogiri returned from one of his trips to remove the ice.

"Izuku," he sounded troubled. "I just warped the ice to the Mountain Zone. There's been a landslide."

" _A rather... severe injury."_

Izuku's stomach flipped, but his hands didn't shake. He had to remain calm, if he wanted to be able to help people. It was why Sensei had trusted him with a quirk, and it wouldn't do to be useless when people were counting on him!

"How bad is it?" He asked instead, trying not to imagine blood-splattered rocks and scars stretching across smirking faces.

"Bad." Kurogiri said simply, and that time, Izuku's hands did start shaking.

"Will you be able to warp them out?" Izuku stared at the remains of the ice. It was starting to melt, now, and droplets of water were falling to the ground like tears.

"I'll need time. But the hero students are still there. We can't afford them getting in the way." Kurogiri sounded as stressed as Izuku felt.

Izuku hated fighting. He knew how to- Tenko and Sensei and Kurogiri wouldn't even let him be here at the attack if he didn't know how to defend himself at least a little. He wasn't the best, but he wasn't the worst.

He'd end up sore, scarred and scared for his efforts. But he was willing to fight for others, if it made a difference.

"I'll distract them. You get everyone out of there, okay?" Izuku decided.

Kurogiri's unhappy silence told Izuku all he needed to know about what the bartender thought of his plan, but the portal opened nonetheless.

"I'm sorry." Kurogiri's voice was soft. "I'll be as quick as possible."

The promise stayed with Izuku even as he stepped through the portal and into his childhood.

* * *

They'd barely made it ten steps, supporting Aoyama as they limped away, when the eerie silence was broken by the sound of a portal opening.

Bakugo whirled around to face the person who stepped through the portal, stepping between them and his friends.

They'd been so close to escaping. He wouldn't let them fail. Not after everything. He was still able to fight. Hell, he'd make whichever villains stepped out the portal regret even thinking about attacking UA and-

-and then he froze.

 _"You're the least amazing."_

Because he _knew_ this villain. Sure, he was wearing a simple surgical mask to hide the lower part of his face, but Bakugo knew the mop of messy hair and saw those wide green eyes in his nightmares sometimes.

 _"Your name can be read as Deku. It means useless."_

It was as though his voice had abandoned him, in that moment. All he could do was stare and _see._ There was blood on Izuku's mask, and on his hands. Izuku was pale and his hands were shaking, and he was staring at Bakugo like he'd seen a ghost.

And then, when the villain spoke, even his timid fucking voice was familiar.

"Kacchan?"


	11. Chapter 11

For a moment, there was a perfect, serene silence. Broken only by Bakugo's sharp, desperate gasps for breath, as he suddenly seemed to be choking and his eyes were burning, tears twisting his vision.

But Izuku was still standing there, a green and red blur, watching them carefully.

"You're... You're _alive_." Bakugo choked out, staring at Izuku like he'd disappear at any moment.

"I am." Izuku agreed quietly.

"But you're _here_. Youre- you're a-"

"A villain." Izuku finished coolly. His face was impassive. Carefully so. Like he was making an effort not to give anything away.

"Why, Izuku. Why?" Bakugo yelled. He couldn't reconcile the two images. A boy with a bright smile and sad eyes and an All Might action figure clutched in one small fist. A teenager with a blood splattered mask and a surgically blank gaze.

"Why are you a hero, Kacchan?" The villain with the face of his childhood friend asked instead of answering.

"I'm not a hero, not yet." Bakugo said. "But I will be, and I'll save people. I'll save _you_."

And that was all it took for Izuku's impassive mask to shatter. Something unreadable flickered across his face and his eyes filled with tears.

"Who is this guy? How do you know him?" Tsuyu hissed, her voice barely carrying over Aoyama's whimpers.

"A childhood friend. I don't know if he's here to fight us or not." Bakugo whispered back.

"You've changed, Kacchan." Izuku decided softly, but Bakugo never heard that. Perhaps he would have felt better later if he had.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I was wrong, I... I should have been a better friend. I should have been a better person." Bakugo practically howled. Izuku was here. Izuku was _real._ It was what he'd wanted for years, but it was all _wrong._

 _"I want to be a hero too!"_

Izuku had been the boy with the smiles and the bravery. Not the blood and the blankness. But Bakugo had a chance, now. He could say sorry. He could fix things.

If he could just say the right words. If he could just save one person.

It'd be enough.

But Izuku wasn't even really looking at him. His gaze kept flitting around like he was distracted or had other things on his mind.

"You weren't the only reason, you know? This whole society is rotten. Heroes are just the root of the problem." Izuku said simply, with such bitterness and conviction that Bakugo's blood froze.

Izuku... Did Izuku actually believe that?

"What did they do to you?" Bakgo wondered. What had the villains done to the boy with the smiles to get him to agree with them. Izuku wasn't a villain. He couldn't be. He'd never hurt anyone.

But for the first time, Izuku looked angry. Like he had when he was sticking up for whoever Bakugo was bullying, even when the child he'd defend would run or scorn him themselves. He looked like he _cared._

"The 'villains' didn't do anything to me. This was my choice." The boy snarled, his green eyes flaring with rage. "They were the ones who saved me, they gave me a choice. And I chose _this_."

"And _I'm_ giving you a choice." Bakugo bellowed back, hoping that Izuku would somehow _hear._ Hear everything he couldn't say. That he missed his friend. That he wanted to see the boy with the blank eyes smile again. That he wanted to somehow make everything better, and that Izuku had to be the answer.

Because he'd been wrong before, and Izuku had paid the price. How could Bakugo be a hero when he'd been the villain in someone else's story? How could he move forwards if the past was full of mistakes he'd never tried fixing.

"I'm giving you a choice," Bakugo repeated quietly, hoarsely. More honest. More broken. "Let me save you. Come home. _Please_ , Izuku. Just come home."

The silence was broken only by Aoyama's whimpers. He was gettting quieter and quieter.

"Kacchan, I-"

"Your mother still carries around that fucking All Might action figure. The one you lost. You still have a home waiting for you, Izuku." Bakugo interrupted, thinking of Inko Midoriya and her quiet strength and quieter tears.

For a moment, Izuku looked very, very small. Swamped in a a hoodie too big for him, his eyes large and green above a mask that hid his freckles. Shaking like he was cold or scared or angry. He looked fragile.

Aoyama whimpered again. The normally loud teen had slapped a trembling hand to his mouth and he'd gone pale.

Bakugo took a step forward. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He didn't know anything more.

But moving was the wrong thing to do. Whatever the reason was, it seemed to snap Izuku into motion. His eyes darted everywhere, before he darted towards Bakugo, swift and sure. Like his mind had been made up in that one instant.

And Bakugo had shifted into a defensive stance more out of instinct than any actual desire to fight. He didn't want to use his quirk to hurt anyone again, especially not if he'd already caused them pain.

But Izuku, whatever his plan for attack was, never reached Bakugo. He simply vanished moments before reaching the heroics student.

"I'm not quite so useless anymore, Kacchan." Izuku's voice echoed from just behind Bakugo, but when he whirled around, there was no one there.

He twisted around again and again, but there was no sign of the villain. At least, there was no sign, until a hand Bakugo never saw reached up from his shadow, and with a sharp tug, pulled his feet from under him.

Bakugo landed heavily on the concrete, winded, and could only watch as Izuku _surfaced from a shadow- what the fuck-_ and sent Tsuyu scrambling away with a simple swipe of a shining silver object.

But she couldn't quite haul Aoyama away with her. With a groan of pain, the pale teen stumbled, where he didn't get up.

Izuku walked over almost calmly, and held the knife to Aoyama's throat, one hand grabbing his arm, where Aoyama's costume had ripped to reveal bloodstained skin, and the other holding the blade in place.

Izuku's hands weren't shaking and Aoyama had stopped whimpering.

"Is he your friend, Kacchan?" Izuku asked, quietly. "And her? The girl with the frog quirk?"

"Yes," Bakugo croaked, his throat suddenly dry. Was this it? Was this Izuku's revenge for making him feel alone and friendless all those years ago? "Yes, they're my friends. So please, _please_ don't hurt them."

"I won't hurt them, but someone else might," Izuku told Bakugo, shoving Aoyama roughly towards Bakugo, knife vanishing into his sleeve. "so take better care of them."

Whatever Izuku might have said next was interruped as a portal opened next to him, dark mist spilling into the air.

"I've finished. Sorry I took so long, but they're all safe now. I can take you to them now- they need your help." The man said softly, and his yellow eyes gleamed with something like pity. Bakugo suspected he wasn't meant to hear what the villain had said.

"Thank you, Kurogiri."

And just like that, Izuku stepped into the portal without so much as a goodbye or final, mocking taunt.

But he did look back, with something unreadable in his eyes, one last time.

* * *

Yaoyorozu wished she could do more. Only recently had she promised Jirou- and herself- to be stronger, so she'd be able to save those who thought alongside her instead of just watching, helpless.

But as she watched Tokoyami - _it was still Tokoyami, right?_ \- fight alone against the man made of sludge, she couldn't think of a single thing she could do.

It had gone something like this:

The man made of mist had vanished, and there had been barely a minute of silence before Tokoyami let out an inhuman _howl,_ and his quirk had flared to life, more vicious and more powerful than anything they'd ever seen before.

Even in All Might's training session, Tokoyami's quirk hadn't been like this. Before, Dark Shadow, if she recalled its name correctly, had been a powerful, long range quirk, but Tokoyami had always reigned it in if it became too agressive. She'd heard it talking- it was perfectly polite.

Nothing like the massive monster shrieking and clawing at the sludge, and every time it's attacks did nothing, it grew enraged. It'd howl and renew it's frenzied attacking.

At one point, she'd planned to charge in, help Tokoyami, do whatever she could, but Denki grabbed her shoulder and hauled her back.

"Don't," he'd hissed. "I was Tokoyami's partner for the training exercise. He explained his quirk to me then. Basically, he has really good control over Dark Shadow unless it's dark or... Or if he's really emotional."

Denki let out a long, shuddering breath, like he was trying to compose himself.

"Right now, he'd probably attack you too."

Momo didn't respond, and instead just watched the strange dance in front of her: Dark Shadow- or Tokoyami- thrashing around and the sludge reforming even after it was slashed by unforgiving claws.

It was a stalemate. And it was happening right in front of the exit. As long as it continued, they were still trapped. But...

"We have to call in reinforcements somehow. I assume that you've already tried to contact the school?"

Denki just nodded grimly. "I couldn't get through."

"If we get outside, would you be able to do it?" She asked, mind already piecing together a plan.

"I think so." The other boy sighed.

"You two," A new voice interrupted. "you should hide with the rest of us. You're too exposed."

Recognising their classmate, she and Denki crept after him, and it took her a while to remember that the boy's name was Shouji.

The others hiding included Mina Ashido and Iida Tenya, as well as Kirishima, and she was fairly sure the final boy was called Satou.

"Hiding feels cowardly." Iida announced as soon as they arrived. "But without a plan, it's the wisest course of action."

"Can we even make a plan? They're fighting right in front of the exit." Denki groaned. It would almost be comical, if his face wasn't pale and he wasn't trembling.

"Not if we make a new exit." Momo suggested before she even knew what she was saying.

To their credit, no one even blinked at the suggestion.

Instead, Iida only asked: "How would we make an exit? I believe, that ironically enough, the building is built securely to avoid damage or villains managing to break in. It would be difficult."

"It doesn't need to be a big exit. If we could just make an enterance small enough for Denki to get out, he may be able to contact the school with his quirk." Momo theorised. "But it'd take a while. Mina, how corrosive is your acid?"

Mina looked thoughtful. "I can make it corrosive enough to melt through stone, but it'd take a while..."

Momo nodded. They could work with that. "I might be able to make a drill, too. It'd take several times, and it'd be loud, but I should be able to do it."

"Damn, that's pretty cool!" Kirishima said with a grin, and Momo felt just a tiny bit more confident.

"It'd be loud." Iida pointed out. "And while I think that the villain is more than occupied..."

A shrill cry made them all flinch.

"If that's the case, then I can use my quirk and be a distraction." Kirishima offered. Then, upon seeing their faces, he wilted slightly. "Well, only if it's absolutley necessary."

"I don't see another option, if it comes down to it. Sorry, Kirishima." Momo sighed. "Let's go."

It by far wasn't her best plan. Really, she was fairly sure that it only worked because they were lucky. The sludge villain wouldn't shut up with his taunts and cries of anger and anguish, so if Dark Shadow was sensitive to noise, it was distracted enough not to bother them.

Which was a blessing, because the drill was loud. At one point, the noise of fighting became loud, so Kirishima had left to go and draw them away. In that aspect, her plan was unnaceptable: it put a fellow student at far too much risk.

But Kirishima came back shaken, but unhurt. "I'm never getting on Tokoyami's bad side." He'd joked with a wobbly grin, and he'd brightened up enough to cheer when Denki managed to crawl through the hole they'd made in the wall.

A few moments later, Denki had come back, a beam lighting up his entire face.

"I got through! Reinforcements are on their way!"

For a moment, they all cheered, forgetting that Kirishima had returned, Satou had come over to hear the good news from his station from lookout, so they were all surprised when the next inhuman wail was very, _very_ close.

The villain had been quiet for a long time. They just hadn't noticed.

"It's weakened by light!" Denki called, from where he was still on the outside, safe, but unable to help."

In the end, it took the combined efforts of Shouji, Iida, Satou and Kirishima to hold off Dark Shadow while Momo made everything from lamps to flash grenades. Slowly, but surely, Dark Shadow became smaller and quieter, until it was finally Tokoyami who was talking, instead of the beast screaming.

"Did... Did I hurt any of you?" The exhausted, terrified student asked quietly.

"Nah, but you totally saved us from the villain!" Kirishima cheered. "You were a hero, Tokoyami!"

It ended with all of them alive, relatively unhurt and beginning to hope again. It ended with the man made of sludge being quietly teleported away by a man made of mist.

* * *

Tomura Shigarki wasn't fighting when Kurogiri appeared next to him. Instead, their leader was watching as several recruits with long range telekenetic quirks worked together to redirect Thirteen's attack.

"Some students have escaped. They managed to contact UA and reinforcements are on their way." Kurogiri said softly.

Tomura Shigaraki _froze._ Then he simply watched, for a moment. As the pro heroes struggled against his League. They had been close. So close. But...

"Start the evacuation."

But Tenko Shimura was Tomura Shigaraki, and he didn't want to leave anyone behind to the 'mercy' of the heroes.

They'd have to try again later.

* * *

Shinsou wondered how his luck could change so past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster.

He'd applied to UA, and he'd been lucky.

But not lucky enough. He'd managed to get into UA, which in itself was a miracle, and far, far more than he'd ever dared to hope for. But the miracle had soured when he hadn't quite made it far enough.

He'd got into UA, but not in the Hero Course. He'd managed to get into the General Studies. So he'd have a chance later on. It was like he'd done well, well enough to be noticed, but even his best wasn't quite good enough.

And then, after just one day, he was moved into a vacancy into Class 1-A, and even as he listened to the teacher with the tired face and told that he had to keep up, he couldn't quite stop the small grin or the thrill of excitement. He'd felt like the luckiest person alive.

That changed quickly. He felt in over his head the moment he'd seen how powerful all his new classmates were. They were all so strong and he was barely anything next to them. So he vowed to be better. He'd do whatever it took to have his best be good enough.

But none of that compared to how unlucky he felt to be flung into a villain attack. He was already so far behind his classmates, what chance would he stand against real villains?

At least Ojiro was there to save him.

Shinsou really wasn't the best swimmer when it came to being plunged into icy water moments after standing on dry ground. He certainly wasn't good enough to dodge villains with quirks that gave them fins and gills and sharp teeth.

But Ojiro had grabbed both him and Monoma and managed to propell them towards the ship, and all three of them had clambered on board.

Nothing else had worked nearly as well. Ever since they'd managed a semblance of safety on the ship, they'd been fighting with everything they had to keep it. Monoma had copied Shinsou's quirk, and together, they'd send whichever villains that ventured near the ship to lure the others away with glassy eyes.

It wouldn't last. But it was all they could do. Ojiro couldn't lug them away from the ship and be able to dodge all of the villains. Soon, they'd figure it out, they'd attack and the ship would sink. Soon, Shinsou suspected the water would blossom red.

They couldn't even make it safer. They couldn't make the villains fight each other, the pain would snap them out of it. They were going to die and there was nothing they could do but buy themselves time.

It worked for a while, though. For the first time, Shinsou used his quirk and felt like a _hero._ He'd saved someone, for a little while. No one could call him the villain now, and maybe it shouldn't have felt as important as it did, but Shinsou was beyond caring.

They couldn't keep it up, in the end. The villains stopped responing to their calls, they had learned to jolt each other out of the control. They had kept it up for what felt like forever, but it felt like they hadn't achieved anything as they watched the villains slowly circle the boat.

The three of them stood in silence when the entire ship jolted, and slowly began to sink.

"There really isn't a way out, is there?" Ojiro asked quietly. For a moment, despite his strength, despite the fact that he was the one who saved them, he looked very small.

"I guess we just swim for it, when it all goes to hell." Shinsou said hollowly.

"No," Monoma snapped. "no, there has to be something we can do."

"What," Shinsou responded bitterly, although he couldn't really blame Monoma. "can we do?"

And Shinsou almost wished that Monoma had continued arguing, because standing there on a sinking ship in silence was almost unbearable. But there was nothing left to say and nothing left to do.

Only swim and hope. Only survive or die.

"I guess we're about to jump the plank on a sinking ship." Shinsou muttered, watching the water creep closer and closer.

They'd stalled for as long as they could, but it felt like everything was happening too fast.

But their stalling had saved them, in the end, because just as everything looked hopeless, just as it looked like they'd have no choice but to swim for it, the water suddenly became a sparkling path of ice.

A glance at the shore revealed Uraraka and Todoroki waiting for them, distant figures crouched at the edge of the water.

They'd live! They had a chance!

The three students raced along the path of ice, not daring to look back at the villains, who'd been circling the ship. If they had, they would have seen the villains be swallowed by dark mist before they could even think of attacking.

* * *

This is how the attack on the USJ ended. The students were safe, battered and bleeding but _alive_. The teachers were injured, but alive.

All of the villains had disappeared without a trace. There were only accounts to be taken, cold cases to revisit, and dark speculation about a dead man and his monsters. A man All Might had thought he'd killed, but seen again in the glassy eyes of the monster he'd struggled against.

And the attack left Izuku alone in an infirmary, with a blood splattered mask and shaking hands, as he looked at all of the injured people around him. There were so many of them, too many off them. He'd hated every moment of the attack. From the danger to watching people get hurt, to seeing Kacchan again. Especially seeing Kacchan again.

Then he sighed. There was no time. He was needed here, by all the people suffering. Slowly, almost mechanically, he got to work. He'd think about everything later, but first- and it would _always_ come first, for him- he had to help people.


End file.
